Insect pollinators associated with huckleberry, Vaccinium spp., in the Pacific Northwest

Huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.) is an important component of forest ecosystems throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its iconic value comes from its use as a traditional food source and because it has yet to be cultivated. All market huckleberries are wild picked and can have a larger economic value to local communities. Most species of huckleberry flower early and their pollinator communities are poorly studied. We examined the insect pollinators at different locations and across different species of huckleberry by directly netting pollinators at the flowers as well as using passive trapping methods (blue and yellow cross-vane traps at two heights). The combination of techniques allows for a comparison between the overall pollinating community and those specifically using huckleberry as a resource. Bombus spp. were the most commonly caught pollinators utilizing huckleberry across all sampled sites. Trap abundance showed that short yellow traps caught the most insects while short blue traps caught the least, however diversity between trap types was approximately the same. Huckleberry plants in the Pacific Northwest experience large variation in flowering time based on annual weather, elevation, and nutrient availability leading to variation in availability for the native pollinators.