Incorporating citizen science, museum specimens, and field work into the assessment of extinction risk of the American Bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus De Geer 1773) in Canada

Victoria J Macphail,Sheila R Colla,Leif L Richardson

doi:10.1007/s10841-019-00152-y

Abstract

Many Bumble bee (Bombus) species are in decline and conservation efforts must be undertaken now to lessen or reverse the trend. For effective efforts to occur, the first step must be an accurate assessment of extinction risk. Yet only four of over forty Canadian Bombus species have been assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), despite evidence of decline for numerous species in this genus. Here, we evaluated the status of the American Bumble bee, Bombus pensylvanicus De Geer 1773 in Canada. A challenge with species assessments is obtaining adequate occurrence data temporally and spatially. Citizen science is a field where volunteers can collect data similar to that of experts over a broader coverage than researchers could often cover alone. We used data from the Bumble Bee Watch citizen science program, a database of North American Bombus records representing field survey and collection records from the late-1800s, and our own field surveys to evaluate the status of B. pensylvanicus in Canada using the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment criteria. We found that B. pensylvanicus’ Area of Occurrence has decreased by about 70%, its Extent of Occurrence by 37%, and its relative abundance by 89%, from 2007 to 2016 as compared to 1907–2006. These findings warrant an assessment of Critically Endangered using IUCN Red List criteria for B. pensylvanicus in Canada. Our findings will help inform management of B. pensylvanicus and exemplify the importance of citizen science programs for wildlife conservation.

Highlights

Effective conservation management of at-risk species requires the important first step of an accurate assessment of extinction risk (Rodrigues et al 2006; Mace et al 2008; Cardoso et al 2011; Colla 2016)
We focus on how, despite evidence of decline at various scales throughout its range and assessment of Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (Hatfield et al 2015c), an assessment of extinction risk in Canada has not yet been completed and made available for government and public consideration for the American Bumble bee, Bombus pensylvanicus De Geer 1773
We obtained data from three sources for Ontario and Quebec, dating to the end of 2016: 1) The Bumble bees of North America (BBNA) database; 2) Records from the Bumble Bee Watch citizen science program already verified by experts, 2014–2016; and 3) Field surveys conducted by the authors dating to the early 2000s, 2013–2016, excluding those records already incorporated into the BBNA database

Summary

Introduction

Effective conservation management of at-risk species requires the important first step of an accurate assessment of extinction risk (Rodrigues et al 2006; Mace et al 2008; Cardoso et al 2011; Colla 2016). Pollinator conservation management (Parliament of Canada 2015; Government of Ontario 2016; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2017; Health Canada 2017). This is a considerable improvement since an earlier review found no real protection for pollinators in the legislation (Tang et al 2007). We focus on how, despite evidence of decline at various scales throughout its range and assessment of Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List (Hatfield et al 2015c), an assessment of extinction risk in Canada has not yet been completed and made available for government and public consideration for the American Bumble bee, Bombus pensylvanicus De Geer 1773.

Methods

Results

Conclusion