Pollination is critical to the reproduction of flowering plants. Up to 90% of flowering plants rely on insects or other animals for pollination, making it an important ecosystem service. Although many organisms can act as pollinators, some of the most common pollinators are bees (Hymenoptera, superfamily Apoidea). Given growing concerns about bee declines worldwide, bees have been identified as an important pollinator group in need of long-term monitoring. This monitoring effort relies on bee specimens and specimen-related data that are available to the scientific community, preferably in digital format online. The goals of this Biological Research Collections grant are to digitally capture the specimens and specimen-related data of the superfamily Apoidea (hereafter, the Bee Collection) of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). The collection will be available online to any viewer at www.rmbl.org.
Scientists, students, and the general public will benefit from this grant. For scientists, digitally capturing the Bee Collection provides an opportunity to make this valuable collection available to a larger audience online. For students, organismal biology fascinates many students but they often don't have the opportunity to take courses in invertebrate biology. This award will provide training and employment opportunities for six students over two years. For the general public, the PIs will work with the students to develop a bee exhibit in the RMBL museum that highlights the diversity of native bees.
Pollination is critical to the reproduction of flowering plants. Worldwide, up to 90% of angiosperm species rely on insects or other animals for pollination, making it an important ecosystem service. Although numerous types of insects and other animals can act as pollinators, some of the most common types of pollinators are bees (Hymenoptera, superfamily Apoidea). Given growing concerns about bee declines worldwide, bees have been identified as an important pollinator group in need of long-term monitoring. This monitoring effort relies on bee specimens and specimen-related data that are available to the scientific community, preferably in digital format online. The RMBL has served as an important field station known worldwide for its research on pollination biology. The RMBL is located in montane habitat with little agricultural intensification in nearby areas; thus, the area has a strong, intact bee community and honey bees are not present. Scientists place voucher specimens in the collection as well as use the Bee Collection as a reference collection or to train students in bee identification. Prior to this award, the Bee Collection was suffering from a lack of space, and none of the specimen-related data on historic specimens was captured digitally. The historic specimens, many of which are georeferenced, provide an exciting opportunity to look at changes in species distributions over time as the collection continues to grow. This award provided funds for the following activities. (1) Specimen-related information was digitally captured and placed in a database. (2) A web user interface was developed so that researchers can continue to enter bees into the database in the future. (3) Administrative web tools were developed so that researchers can enter large numbers of specimens using existing files. (4) A search tool was developed so that scientists and the general public can query the database online and view the results from the online search. (5) The online search results also provide hot links to images of the species that can be used for further identification. (6) Insect cabinets were purchased so the collection can continue to grow, and a dissecting microscope was purchased so that researchers have access to resources for further bee identification. The award also provided for human resource development. Undergraduate and post-graduate students worked on this project entering specimen-related data into the database. These students also had the opportunity to help organize the bee collection at the RMBL into a new insect case. Organismal biology often fascinates students, and this award provided valuable training skills to these students in the form of insect curation and database management. Three students who participated in this project are now in graduate programs in ecology and evolution and at least one is still an undergraduate student majoring in Biology. Only through ongoing research can we expect to attract and retain students in scientific careers.
