Ph.D. Student Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey
Despite the importance of wild bees as pollinators of both crops and wild plants, the population ecology or conservation status of most bee species in the United States remains poorly known. Approximately 25 percent of bee species in the eastern US are host plant specialists, many of which likely exist in metapopulations across networks of habitat fragments. Conserving insect metapopulations requires understanding of how large local populations are, how population sizes relate to patch characteristics, and how individuals move among patches. However, the number of population-level studies of bee species that are likely of conservation concern remains relatively few. Andrena parnassiae is a rare specialist bee that forages for pollen exclusively on plants in the genus Parnassia. Using mark-release-recapture methods, I studied movement behavior and estimated population sizes of A. parnassiae across a small group of calcareous fen wetlands in northwestern New Jersey. I also censused flowering Parnassia at each patch throughout the flight period of the bee to investigate whether bee population sizes can be predicted by the availability of floral resources within patches. Continuing to develop an understanding of bees’ resource requirements and foraging and dispersal habits will facilitate deliberate and effective conservation measures.