Effects of landscape context on native bee communities in Palouse prairie fragments

Decreased habitat quality caused by exotic plant invasion and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification and urbanization continues to impact bee species persistence and general ecological integrity. Although the relationship between fragment area and species diversity and abundance is well known, the scale at which landscape characteristics affect local bee community structure is not well understood. Interactions between habitat fragmentation and exotic plant invasion of remaining habitat affect bee communities in unknown ways. Methods to assess connectivity of dispersed fragments and the effects of distant landscape alteration for highly mobile species such as bees are not described. Better understanding of landscape effects on bee species can inform agroecosystem design as well as resilient ecosystem management. Insects were collected at thirty one sites on fragments of Palouse Prairie with colored bowl pan traps (‘bee bowls’), blue vane traps and through direct netting at flowers. Habitat quality was assessed by identifying plants on random transects to determine plant cover types and level of exotic grass invasion. Correlations are found between habitat characteristics and bee community characteristics.