RESEARCH OBJECTIVES & PROJECT GOAL

 Research Objectives 

The research has four core objectives:

1.    Measure biodiversity of bees in a variety of habitats

2.    Create DNA barcode libraries for native plants and pollinators in Southern Utah

3.    Assess the potential for acoustic survey of bumblebees

4.   Construct pollination networks to evaluate the effects of restoration efforts and the potential impacts of human activities, such as commercial honeybee farming

 

PROJECT GOAL

The ultimate goal of this project is to decrease the amount of destructive sampling needed to study pollinators by establishing a genetic and acoustic library of pollinators in southern Utah. These libraries will allow land managers to enact policies that can preserve pollinator networks and essential pollinator habitat. These libraries will also allow researchers and managers to assess how pollinator and plant populations change in response to management options, human use of land, and climate change.

• A secondary aim of this project is to enhance pollinator and wildlife habitat on public lands by working with federal partners to develop seed banks for native plant species.

• The public lands of southern Utah serve a number of different interests, including academia, federal agencies, ranchers, coal miners, and native American communities. The data collected through this expedition will help land managers balance these interests by creating an inventory of bee biodiversity, developing a cutting edge genetic approach to studying pollinators, restoring essential pollinator habitat, and bringing the community together. This project will ultimately help preserve native pollinator diversity, native plants, and Utah’s greatest resource: its public lands.

• To understand the biodiversity of native pollinators and build a genetic sequence library, 

Volunteers will help in five main research tasks:

1.  Bee diversity surveys

2.  Collection of genetic tissue: whole bees, pollen carried by pollinators, plant leaves, and flowers

3.  Collection of plant specimens

4.  Bumblebee acoustic surveys

5.  Collection of seeds from native wildflowers