Collaborative Research: Collaborative Databasing of North American Bee Collections Within a Global Informatics Network

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Natural history collections contain millions of bee specimens documenting the geographic ranges, temporal occurrence patterns, and floral associations of the 20,000 described bee species. This project will digitize and consolidate specimen records from 10 bee collections across the United States. The investigators will make or verify species identifications, capture full label data, georeference and error-check localities, and upload this information to publicly accessible databases. Web-based tools will be used to capture data across collections efficiently, validate bee and plant names through automated comparison with taxonomic authority files, and synthesize data on species pages with images, digitized literature records, and other information about bees and their host plants. Data will be uploaded to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and to Discover Life (www.discoverlife.org), a website that features customizable global maps for all global bee species and dynamic identification keys for North American species. To obtain information needed to conserve and manage pollinators, the investigators will work with ecologists to model geographic and temporal trends in bee populations in relation to environmental variables. Bees are the most important pollinators of the approximately 1/3 of crops that require animal pollination. Recent declines in honey bee populations highlight the need to understand better the roles of native bees in agricultural and natural systems. This project will help predict risks to bees and their pollination services from climate change, habitat loss, and other factors. The outreach program Bee Hunt (www.discoverlife.org/bee) will educate the public, including students in underserved communities, about bee diversity and the importance of pollination services. Using digital photography and rigorous research protocols, Bee Hunt will empower people at biological field stations, nature centers, parks, schools, and other sites to collect high-quality data to augment information from specimen records.