Baseline information on bee diversity in Arkansas

Monday, November 14, 2022

8:12 AM – 8:24 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 306

Presenting Author(s)

CL

Coleman Z. Little

PhD research assistant
University of Arkansas
Conway, Arkansas

Co-Author(s)

RA

Roshani Acharya

Graduate Research Assistant
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
LC

Leslie Cooper

Pheasants Forever, Inc.; Quail Forever
Little Rock, Arkansas
AF

Allison Fowler

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Mayflower, Arkansas
LS

Laurie Scott

NorthWest Arkansas Community College
Bentonville, Arkansas
TW

Theo Witsell

Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission
Little Rock, Arkansas
NJ

Neelendra K. Joshi

Entomologist
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas

The importance of pollinators and their declines has drawn attention to our need for better understanding of how bee communities function, but also how they respond to changing climactic and habitat conditions. There have been few studies document bee communities in Arkansas, with multiple bee species being petitioned for federal protection status, the need for us to understand what bees are present in Arkansas and where they are located has rapidly become important. This project aims to close that information gap by sampling the diverse habitats in Arkansas to better understand what bee species are present, allowing us to make more informed decisions for their conservation. Data will be collected and compiled from multiple sources (including museum specimens) while documenting habitat and management practice variables. Once complete data will be added to a database of bee collections in Arkansas designed to better inform for project design, bee conservation, conservation assessment, and terrestrial habitat assessment.