Patterns of widespread decline in North American bumble bees

Bumble bees (Bombus) are vitally important pollinators of wild plants and agricultural crops worldwide. Fragmentary observations, however, have suggested population declines in several North American species. Despite rising concern over these observations in the United States, highlighted in a recent National Academy of Sciences report, a national assessment of the geographic scope and possible causal factors of bumble bee decline is lacking. Here, we report results of a 3-y interdisciplinary study of changing distributions, population genetic structure, and levels of pathogen infection in bumble bee populations across the United States. We compare current and historical distributions of eight species,…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture

  Award: CSREES-NRI 2007-02274
• UF
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• CS
  Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service