Plant and wild bee response to pollinator meadows installed through the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) initiatives in Rhode Island and Connecticut

There are approximately 4,000 species of wild bees in North America north of Mexico which play an integral role in the reproduction of agricultural crops and entomophilous plants in natural landscapes. However, native bees have declined in recent decades due to pathogens, pesticide exposure, habitat loss, and land use intensification. The United States Congress took a step in addressing some of these drivers by passing H.R. 6124, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, otherwise known as the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill authorized incentive-based conservation programs to be carried out on agricultural land through the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and encouraged the development of habitat for native and managed pollinators on farms. This project seeks to evaluate the outcome of at least 24 such wildlife habitat plantings that were established in Connecticut and Rhode Island through this program. We conducted monthly surveys of each planting during the growing season (May-September) in 2024 and 2025 to evaluate wild bee diversity within each planted meadow, as well as the vegetative cover, floral diversity, and abundance and density of blooming inflorescences. The project’s objectives are to: a) document changes in wild native bee species richness and abundance over time, b) quantify the key plant species that support wild native bees, especially rare species, c) evaluate the relationship between plant diversity/seed mix and bee species richness, and d) provide information for developing seed mixes that best meet the needs of Rhode Island and Connecticut bees.