EVALUATING SOCIAL AND SOLITARY BEE COMMUNITIES IN MANAGED FORESTS AFFECTED BY WILDFIRES OF VARYING MAGNITUDE IN OREGON AND CALIFORNIA

Jeremy Hart; NCASI; jhart664@gmail.com; Felix Bruner, Jess Fan Brown, Lauren Ponisio, Lincoln Best, Katie Moriarty, Laura six

Pollination services provided by insects largely impact floral and faunal diversity, abundance, and overall ecosystem productivity. With fire regimes changing across the Pacific Northwest, it’s uncertain how plant-pollinator dynamics will be affected by wildfires of varying severity. Previous studies have suggested that increased pyrodiversity can promote insect abundance and diversity, however, few of these studies have been conducted in actively managed forest systems. We examined the diversity and abundance of two social bee genera and six solitary bee families. Specimens were collected in forest stands nested within 4th-order watersheds, with each spatial scale stratified and replicated by forest age. We sampled 19 stands within areas affected by three major 2020 fires and one adjacent unburned stand per fire varying in fire severity and distance from fire perimeter. Insects were collected along transects via a standardized hand-netting protocol in addition to the use of blue vane traps. Available floral resources were surveyed at the time of insect hand-netting. Preliminary analysis suggests pollinator abundance was high in moderate-high severity burns with prolific floral resources and lowest in the older forest stands with relatively few floral resources. We hope to help further pollinator conservation and sustainable land management in forests affected by wildfires.

Poster Session  InPerson Presentation