[PCA] ARTICLE: Spring forest flowers likely a key to bumble bee survival, Illinois study finds

[Park, Margaret E]

Diana Yates, University of Illinois News Bureau, April 28, 2021

For more than a decade, ecologists have been warning of a downward trend in bumble bee populations across North America, with habitat destruction a primary culprit in those losses. While efforts to preserve wild bees in the Midwest often focus on restoring native flowers to prairies, a new Illinois-based study finds evidence of a steady decline in the availability of springtime flowers in wooded landscapes.

The scarcity of early season flowers in forests – a primary food source for bumble bees at this time of year – likely endangers the queen bees’ ability to start their nesting season and survive until other floral resources become available, researchers say. They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Full Story: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/1809224114
Original Research Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13886
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