Eastern Oregon Bumblebee Survey and Preservation
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, July 29th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY – It can be easy to forget the sheer complexity and biodiversity that comprises Oregon’s natural environment. Hundreds of different animals and insects and their numerous sub variations make up the ever-shifting organic machine that is the Pacific Northwest ecosystem. Similarly, the decline and potential disappearance of handful of bees may seem insignificant at a glance, but for some conversationists, it’s a matter of utmost importance. To help in this mission, the Greater Hells Canyon Council is conducting its fourth year of bumblebee surveys and are welcoming volunteers.
The survey is part of the ongoing Pacific Northwest Bumblebee Atlas Project. Organized by the Xerces Society’s, an international conversation group with a focus on invertebrates, the Atlas Project aims to catalog the habitats and population distribution of bumblebees in the region for future conservation efforts. As described by Hells Canyon Council connection coordinator Christina de Villier:
“They started it because they knew that bumblebees were in decline and all they had for records about bumblebee habitats were museum records of where the bees were caught, but they had no idea what the survey methodologies were. They decided, in an effort to better understand where bumblebee habits were and were not in the state of Oregon for various different species, they would start this mapping project and enlist community members as citizen scientists.”
The Greater Hells Canyon Council rose to the occasion due their own interest in biodiversity conservation, in particular micro fauna species that are often neglected in mainstream rhetoric. Of these micro faunae, the survey has a particular interest in the habitats of the western bumblebee (Bombus Occidentalis). This specific species has, according to De Viller, seen a particularly steep decline recently and is currently in the vetting process to be considered under the endangered species act.
The Greater Hells Canyon Council hope that, should the western bumblebee make the endangered species category, the information garnered from the surveys will help future land management efforts. “Part of the work of helping that change be as seamless as possible is understanding what that species needs, both during the summer when its foraging and during the breeding season as well as hibernation and nesting,” de Viller said. However, though western bumblebee is a major focus, the team will study all bumblebee species they come across as part of the overall Atlas Project. As further described by de Villier:
“Bumblebees are declining across the board, and there’s a lot of reasons for that, from habitat degradation to pesticides to climate change. This particular bumblebee just so happens to be in steeper decline than other species… and we’ve found a lot more of them out here than in other areas of the Pacific Northwest.”
The survey will take place near Baker City. As part of the Atlas Project, the Pacific Northwest has been divided into various grid cells with the Hells Canyon Council working in the Southwest and Northwest corner of cell 61. The team will catch the bees with nets, hold them in vials, lower their temperature to make them docile enough for examination and then releasee them once the data has been logged for Xerces.
Despite the current danger posed to bumblebee populations, Hells Canyon are optimistic and looking forward to a day in the field. Introducing volunteers to the needs and lifecycle of the various bumblebees and allowing many of them to examine the insects up close for the first time has been a highlight for the team. “In general, people have a really good time. It’s nice to be out together making a significant contribution to bumblebee conservation,” de Villier said.
The bumblebee survey trips will be held August 2 and 3. For meeting locations, schedules and sign-up information, contact Christina de Villier at christina@hellscanyon.org. For more information on Eastern Oregon conversation, visit Hells Canyon | La Grande | Greater Hells Canyon Council.
