The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is an important pollinator of wildflowers, cranberries, and other important crops. It is the first bumble bee to be designated as an endangered species in the United States. The bee’s population has plummeted nearly 90 percent since the 1990s. Since 2000, this bumble bee has been reported from only 13 states and 1 Canadian province: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin – and Ontario, Canada. While no single cause has been identified, some of the main drivers of bee declines are: Use of agricultural pesticides (especially 3 neonicotinoid pesticides), parasites and disease (especially the parasitic mite Varroa destructor), loss of important food sources and climate change. Another issue impacted by those factors is the colony collapse disorder, which is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees.
To protect the rusty patched bumble bee from extinction, our project will engage community members by providing a flower planting guide resource so that they can better attract and maintain the bee populations. In addition, community members will have access to the Survey123 Application where they can record sightings of the bee to help in scientific conservation efforts. Farmers, consumers of food products and the general public will benefit from conserving this pollinator.
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Review known data to determine a possible data structure for the data set(s)
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Create a data set representing population changes/colony loss relative to known drivers (pesticide use, vectors of disease and parasites, etc.) and critical resources (flowers, etc.)
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Test/troubleshoot existing data collection tools for application to our project (ArcGIS Collector 123 application, Survey 123, etc.)
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If feasible, collect supplemental data for the Midwest region (map locations of colonies, drivers, food sources, etc.).
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Create a downloadable geodatabase that combines all the collected data in one convenient location and publish a map using ArcGIS Online for public use and consumption. This user-friendly platform would allow citizens to participate in the conservation of pollinators, more specifically bumble bees. The platform would potentially include information about local land use, plants and pesticide use to inform citizens about any environmental factors that impact pollinators.
Patrick Campbell: identified potential platforms to display data for a user-friendly application. He also combined the different data sets into a map and published the map online for public consumption.
LaChrista Douglas: researched pesticide use and data depositories that report usage, both residential and commercial.
Maureen Kimamo: researched and located native bee locations, particularly the rusty-patched bumble bee.
Amund Tallaksen: researched and located apiary locations which are vectors of disease and parasites, and contribute to colony collapse disorder.
Rishi Udeshi: researched flowers that are ideal in providing food sources for the rusty-patched bumble bee.
All team members: Collaborated on writing and editing the report, and in-class presentation.
A. Survey123
Patrick initially created a survey on Survey123, the data collection tool offered by Esri to crowdsource data. He then created questions for each of the data fields we were interested in. This included date and time of observation, location of observation, and species of bee observed (those that are located in the midwest that also have IUCN ‘red list’ designation). A link where users could upload a photo of the bee was also included. Finally, the survey has a “field notes” section where the user can include any general comments.
The survey was uploaded to Esri’s download library so users could access it through the Survey123 mobile application. The team then collected trial data to test the tool. This trial data was included in our story map as an example of what users would be able to see through the web tool.
B. Story Map
After completing the Survey123 data collection tool, we created a story map to communicate our findings to the public. The story map includes all the findings we compiled from various sources including apiary locations, pesticide use, high potential and low potential zones for bees, and the trial data collected using the Survey123 application.
From our story map, users can zoom into specific locations to learn how their neighborhood compares to other areas in their vicinity in terms of pesticide use, potential for bees, and apiary locations. Gardeners can use this map to see if there is pesticide use in their area that would affect migration of bees. Community groups, schools and individuals that want to plant bee-friendly plants can maximize their impact by targeting high impact areas and referring to the section of the story map that recommends plants. We expect that after a few years, the Survey123 tool will have reliable time series data of bee sightings, a dataset that did not exist before this tool was created.
→ Link to story map: Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Population Health
A. Data Collection
There were limitations to data collection, particularly when it came to accessing data on pesticide use. For instance, aside from abiding by pesticide label laws, there tends to be limited restrictions and lack of mandated reporting for pesticide use. Our group was also unable to find geographic data on plant species that attract the rusty patched bumble bee. Private data from individual land plots do not exist because there are logistical barriers to collecting this data. Eastern broadleaf forests are home to dozens of different plants that attract the rusty patched bumble bee. Identifying geographic areas showing where specific plants exist was logistically unfeasible. As a result, we only focused on specific plants based on research from various sources.
B. Identifying Further Issues
After completing the story map, our team realized that additional time series data would have provided greater insight to understand how bee populations were affected by habitat loss and pesticides. The time constraints associated with the project prevented us from obtaining this data.
C. Collection of Crowdsourced Data
The most accurate way to create a visualization tool on rusty patched bumble bees would have been to create a survey and crowdsource data on bee sightings, up-to-date apiary locations, and pesticide use. During this process we concluded that this would have required an extensive public relations campaign to make users aware of this data collection tool.