Oregon takes second place for most outdoorsy state, according to AllSides. However, the report seems to overlook why it’s so rich and full of color.
The credit could be given to the over 800 native bees that call the Beaver State home.
“Maybe the (Oregon State University) mascot shouldn’t be a beaver but a BEE-ver,” said Andony Melathopoulos, pollinator health extension specialist and associate professor of horticulture at OSU, while talking about just how diverse the bee community in Oregon is.
The people to credit with discovering and studying Oregon’s native bees would be the dedicated volunteers and staff of the Oregon Bee Atlas. Winter is usually the time when staff can look into data from earlier in the year since bees are less active.
The Oregon Bee Atlas is a multi-state, long-term research program made to serve as a comprehensive resource about the wild bees of Oregon. The project began in 2016 when Melathopoulos was hired because OSU was tasked by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife with helping the state address a key biodiversity crisis surrounding Oregon’s native bees, which was a part of the 2016 Oregon Conservation Strategy.
To address this, Melathopoulos designed the Master Melittologist Program through the OSU Extension Service, which trains volunteers to collect bees from flowers and accurately document which flowers they’re on.
They are then sent a label kit where they write vital information and it’s then sent to a lab on campus where skilled technicians input, validate and confirm the data sent.
After that, the expert taxonomists are tasked with identifying the bees, which can be one of the most difficult but rewarding parts of this process, according to Melathopoulos.
The Atlas has added thousands of new records to the state and resulted in the discovery of many bee species new to the state.
Annie Watts, a lab technician for the Oregon Bee Atlas, described one of the best parts about being a part of the project is being able to witness different species being discovered all the time.
One of the project objectives that Watts is working on is to understand the correlation between species diversity and sampling efforts. Watts accomplishes this by creating maps and visualizing the correlation so that Melathopoulos can determine how to increase the sampling effort in specific places.
One of the most important aspects of the Oregon Bee Atlas is analyzing and visualizing the data to add to regional maps.
These maps can be used to show the correlation between bees and the flowers they visit, which can be important for habitat restoration groups if they are looking for ways to preserve Oregon’s native bees.
The maps are also used to determine ranges of different species of bee, in particular, they try to understand hotspots of biodiversity to better understand what habitat some bees prefer compared to others.
That information can then be used by conservationists and policy-makers alike to determine how specific habitats can be managed with native bees in mind.
This data becomes available as it is curated and can be accessed through the Melittoflora or through data repositories such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, where the Oregon Bee Atlas data is published on a semi-annual basis.
The Atlas’ goal with the data is “to make this rich data available to a broad suite of users who are all working to conserve and biodiversify the landscapes.”
If you are interested in getting involved or supporting the Oregon Bee Atlas, you can register to volunteer, or purchase a license plate.