Pollinator Species

The USGS Bee Lab supports research on native bees. As part of that program we and our co-located USFWS partners develop identification tools and keys for native bee species, take public access hi resolution photographs of bees, work with partners from all the states of the unions, design and test bee counting techniques and document bee/plant associations as well as double checking researchers...

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. EESC scientists have been using eDNA technologies to detect native and rare species and as community biomonitoring tools.

Declines of pollinators have engendered worldwide concern, but trends in the faunas of most insect pollinators, including bees, remain uncertain. We are studying the bee fauna of southern Rhode Island to provide baseline information about the current fauna, and information about bee-flower interactions.