Response of native bees to landscape composition and configuration in Wisconsin agroecosystems (USA)

As managed honey bees continue to decline, more attention has been given to land management that could enhance and protect native bee pollinators. Previous studies have shown that native bees respond to the composition of surrounding habitats but few have examined how the spatial configuration and distribution of these habitats influence native bees. The purpose of this preliminary analysis was to determine to what extent native bee abundance and diversity vary as a function of both habitat composition, measured by percent cover, and configuration, as measured by edge density. To address this we pan trapped bees in several systems including cranberry, switchgrass, and diverse prairie. We then used GIS to classify the landscapes around each study site based on landcover data and aerial photos. We found that native bee abundance and diversity respond positively to increased forest cover and forest edge density but negatively to agricultural land cover. These results show that native bees respond to the type (e.g., forest), availability (i.e. percent cover) and distribution (as measured by edge density) of habitat on the landscape. This suggests that both habitat composition and configuration may determine where in the landscape native pollinators can be most effective.