Improving forage for pollinators on Federal conservation lands
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By Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
June 26, 2018
Since its inception in 1933, the U.S. Farm Bill has been one of the most influential federal policies for agriculture and food production. Provisions within the Farm Bill have profound influence on global trade, nutrition programs, commodity crop programs, rural communities, and land conservation. Northern Prairie’s research quantifies the impact on pollinator forage and health of USDA conservation programs provisioned through the Farm Bill. We also are working with our USDA partners to evaluate conservation seeding mixes with potential to improve pollinator health in the Great Plains and upper Midwest, if included in programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program. To address partner research needs, we have developed a novel technique using genetic sequencing to identify pollen collected from the bodies of foraging bees. Our work is designed to inform national policy decisions and assist with conservation planning across multiple states in the central U.S.
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Data release for: Does the quality and quantity of honey bee-collected pollen vary across an agricultural land-use gradient?
This dataset includes pollen sample weight in grams and percent crude protein collected by honey bees (Apis mellifera) across 38 apiaries in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota approximately weekly from June through September in 2015 and 2016. Additionally it includes the hectares of different land covers (corn, Zea mays, & soybeans, Glycine max, grasslands, bee forage crops, and wetlands) l
Dataset: Plant and bee transects in the Northern Great Plains 2015-2018
These data were collected to fulfill multiple Inter-agency agreements established by USGS and multiple partners: USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Honey Bee Health Coalition. In this study USGS scientists conducted floral resource and insect pollinator assessments across multiple land covers in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota from 2015 to 201
Below are publications associated with this project.
Floral resource selection by wild bees and honey bees in the Midwest United States: Implications for designing pollinator habitat
Many seed mix recommendations for creating pollinator habitat are in part based on anecdotal evidence or field observations of bees visiting forbs (i.e. use). However, there is limited information on what forbs are preferred by bees, particularly in working landscapes where bee forage may be limited. We examined floral resource selection by wild bees and honey bees on grasslands in the Midwest usi
Authors
Stacy C. Simanonok, Clint R.V. Otto, Deborah A. Buhl
Flowering plants preferred by bees of the Prairie Pothole Region
Land managers have stressed the need for improved pollinator habitat on private and public lands of the Prairie Pothole Region. Understanding flowering plant preferences of pollinators will improve the cost-effectiveness of conservation seeding mixes. The purpose of this fact sheet is to assist conservation planners and producers with developing seed mixes by highlighting flowering plants that are
Authors
Stacy C. Simanonok, Clint R.V. Otto
Molecular sequencing and morphological identification reveal similar patterns in native bee communities across public and private grasslands of eastern North Dakota
Bees play a key role in the functioning of human-modified and natural ecosystems by pollinating agricultural crops and wild plant communities. Global pollinator conservation efforts need large-scale and long-term monitoring to detect changes in species’ demographic patterns and shifts in bee community structure. The objective of this project was to test a molecular sequencing pipeline that would u
Authors
Brian Darby, Russ Bryant, Abby Keller, Madison Jochim, Josephine Moe, Zoe Schreiner, Carrie Pratt, Ned Euliss, Mia Park, Rebecca Simmons, Clint R.V. Otto
Assessing the impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on honey bee health
Insect pollinators are critically important for maintaining U.S. food production and ecosystem health. The upper Midwest is home to more than 40 percent of all U.S. honey bee colonies and is considered by many beekeepers to be America’s last beekeeping refuge. Beekeepers come to this region because their honey bees require high-quality grassland and bee-friendly agricultural crops to make honey an
Authors
Clint R.V. Otto
Past role and future outlook of the Conservation Reserve Program for supporting honey bees in the Great Plains
Human dependence on insect pollinators continues to grow even as pollinators face global declines. The Northern Great Plains (NGP), a region often referred to as America’s last honey bee (Apis mellifera) refuge, has undergone rapid land-cover change due to cropland expansion and weakened land conservation programs. We conducted a trend analysis and estimated conversion rates of Conservation Reserv
Authors
Clint R.V. Otto, Haochi Zheng, Alisa L. Gallant, Rich Iovanna, Benjamin L. Carlson, Matthew Smart, Skip Hyberg
Assessing pollinator habitat services to optimize conservation programs
Pollination services have received increased attention over the past several years, and protecting foraging area is beginning to be reflected in conservation policy. This case study considers the prospects for doing so in a more analytically rigorous manner, by quantifying the pollination services for sites being considered for ecological restoration. The specific policy context is the Conservatio
Authors
Richard Iovanna, Amy W. Ando, Scott Swinton, Daniel Hellerstein, Jimmy Kagan, David M. Mushet, Clint R.V. Otto, Charles A. Rewa
A comparison of honey bee-collected pollen from working agricultural lands using light microscopy and ITS metabarcoding
Taxonomic identification of pollen has historically been accomplished via light microscopy but requires specialized knowledge and reference collections, particularly when identification to lower taxonomic levels is necessary. Recently, next-generation sequencing technology has been used as a cost-effective alternative for identifying bee-collected pollen; however, this novel approach has not been
Authors
Matthew Smart, Robert S. Cornman, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Margaret McDermott-Kubeczko, Jeff S Pettis, Marla S Spivak, Clint R.V. Otto
Below are news stories associated with this project.
Below are our partners associated with this project.
Since its inception in 1933, the U.S. Farm Bill has been one of the most influential federal policies for agriculture and food production. Provisions within the Farm Bill have profound influence on global trade, nutrition programs, commodity crop programs, rural communities, and land conservation. Northern Prairie’s research quantifies the impact on pollinator forage and health of USDA conservation programs provisioned through the Farm Bill. We also are working with our USDA partners to evaluate conservation seeding mixes with potential to improve pollinator health in the Great Plains and upper Midwest, if included in programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program. To address partner research needs, we have developed a novel technique using genetic sequencing to identify pollen collected from the bodies of foraging bees. Our work is designed to inform national policy decisions and assist with conservation planning across multiple states in the central U.S.
Below are data releases associated with this project.
Data release for: Does the quality and quantity of honey bee-collected pollen vary across an agricultural land-use gradient?
This dataset includes pollen sample weight in grams and percent crude protein collected by honey bees (Apis mellifera) across 38 apiaries in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota approximately weekly from June through September in 2015 and 2016. Additionally it includes the hectares of different land covers (corn, Zea mays, & soybeans, Glycine max, grasslands, bee forage crops, and wetlands) l
Dataset: Plant and bee transects in the Northern Great Plains 2015-2018
These data were collected to fulfill multiple Inter-agency agreements established by USGS and multiple partners: USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Honey Bee Health Coalition. In this study USGS scientists conducted floral resource and insect pollinator assessments across multiple land covers in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota from 2015 to 201
Below are publications associated with this project.
Floral resource selection by wild bees and honey bees in the Midwest United States: Implications for designing pollinator habitat
Many seed mix recommendations for creating pollinator habitat are in part based on anecdotal evidence or field observations of bees visiting forbs (i.e. use). However, there is limited information on what forbs are preferred by bees, particularly in working landscapes where bee forage may be limited. We examined floral resource selection by wild bees and honey bees on grasslands in the Midwest usi
Authors
Stacy C. Simanonok, Clint R.V. Otto, Deborah A. Buhl
Flowering plants preferred by bees of the Prairie Pothole Region
Land managers have stressed the need for improved pollinator habitat on private and public lands of the Prairie Pothole Region. Understanding flowering plant preferences of pollinators will improve the cost-effectiveness of conservation seeding mixes. The purpose of this fact sheet is to assist conservation planners and producers with developing seed mixes by highlighting flowering plants that are
Authors
Stacy C. Simanonok, Clint R.V. Otto
Molecular sequencing and morphological identification reveal similar patterns in native bee communities across public and private grasslands of eastern North Dakota
Bees play a key role in the functioning of human-modified and natural ecosystems by pollinating agricultural crops and wild plant communities. Global pollinator conservation efforts need large-scale and long-term monitoring to detect changes in species’ demographic patterns and shifts in bee community structure. The objective of this project was to test a molecular sequencing pipeline that would u
Authors
Brian Darby, Russ Bryant, Abby Keller, Madison Jochim, Josephine Moe, Zoe Schreiner, Carrie Pratt, Ned Euliss, Mia Park, Rebecca Simmons, Clint R.V. Otto
Assessing the impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on honey bee health
Insect pollinators are critically important for maintaining U.S. food production and ecosystem health. The upper Midwest is home to more than 40 percent of all U.S. honey bee colonies and is considered by many beekeepers to be America’s last beekeeping refuge. Beekeepers come to this region because their honey bees require high-quality grassland and bee-friendly agricultural crops to make honey an
Authors
Clint R.V. Otto
Past role and future outlook of the Conservation Reserve Program for supporting honey bees in the Great Plains
Human dependence on insect pollinators continues to grow even as pollinators face global declines. The Northern Great Plains (NGP), a region often referred to as America’s last honey bee (Apis mellifera) refuge, has undergone rapid land-cover change due to cropland expansion and weakened land conservation programs. We conducted a trend analysis and estimated conversion rates of Conservation Reserv
Authors
Clint R.V. Otto, Haochi Zheng, Alisa L. Gallant, Rich Iovanna, Benjamin L. Carlson, Matthew Smart, Skip Hyberg
Assessing pollinator habitat services to optimize conservation programs
Pollination services have received increased attention over the past several years, and protecting foraging area is beginning to be reflected in conservation policy. This case study considers the prospects for doing so in a more analytically rigorous manner, by quantifying the pollination services for sites being considered for ecological restoration. The specific policy context is the Conservatio
Authors
Richard Iovanna, Amy W. Ando, Scott Swinton, Daniel Hellerstein, Jimmy Kagan, David M. Mushet, Clint R.V. Otto, Charles A. Rewa
A comparison of honey bee-collected pollen from working agricultural lands using light microscopy and ITS metabarcoding
Taxonomic identification of pollen has historically been accomplished via light microscopy but requires specialized knowledge and reference collections, particularly when identification to lower taxonomic levels is necessary. Recently, next-generation sequencing technology has been used as a cost-effective alternative for identifying bee-collected pollen; however, this novel approach has not been
Authors
Matthew Smart, Robert S. Cornman, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Margaret McDermott-Kubeczko, Jeff S Pettis, Marla S Spivak, Clint R.V. Otto
Below are news stories associated with this project.
Below are our partners associated with this project.