Pollinators are an increasingly important area of study, especially in agriculture where they are vital for crop production. Pollinator surveys are a practical way to assess the health and diversity of a population and its stability for future generations. In many places, studies like this are already commonplace and well-researched. However, in places like Alaska, more research is desperately needed. Research is especially critical because Alaska’s arctic climate is more susceptible to dramatic fluctuations from climate change. Many insect species are highly vulnerable to changes in temperature, and that can cause disturbances in development, range, and behavior. In this study bee populations were sampled using malaise traps over the summers of 2020-2023. The resulting samples were then analyzed to see how bee abundance and diversity changed in Fairbanks, Alaska over those 4 years of samples. There was a high increase in bee abundance from 2020-2023 in the samples and drastic changes in diversity that correlated with increased average temperatures. Moving forward, this project has opened several new avenues for further study, including studies of biological versus realized niches for bees, bee behavior, and bee development. This project will help me further my understanding of entomology, taxonomy, and ecology, as well as open up more areas of research for my future career in conservation entomology.
Author(s): Kaitlyn Rychcik, Jacob M. Weaver, Anil Upreti, Brad Wagner, Michael L. Robinson, Ph.D
Advisor(s): Michael Robinson, Biology
Anil Upreti, Biology, Jacob Weaver, Biology
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