Combining community science and taxonomist expertise for large‐scale monitoring of insect pollinators: Perspective and insights from Abeilles citoyennes

Abstract

While evidence of insect pollinator declines accumulates, little is known about the pollinator communities that are most vulnerable to population fluctuations and may require conservation actions. Among the main reasons for this lack of knowledge about the status and trends of native pollinators are the time, cost, and expertise required to collect and identify wild insect pollinators (bees, more specifically). Here, we discuss how leveraging the complementarity of community science and taxonomist expertise can help overcome these challenges and provide perspective and insights from launching the large‐scale monitoring program Abeilles citoyennes. The overall objective of this community science project is to monitor wild bee (Apoidea) and hover fly (Syrphidae) diversity in the province of Quebec, Canada, and study the effects of landscape composition on their communities. From 2019 to 2021, 131 volunteers collected insects at 161 sites across the province. A total of 13,558 bees and 2,486 hover flies were collected and identified to species. The project protocol and potential data uses are presented, along with a discussion of the benefits and challenges of using an expert‐assisted community science approach for pollinator monitoring and opportunities for improvement.

Bee monitoring by community scientists: comparing a collections-based program with iNaturalist

“…A) Monitoring studies that utilize lethal collections done entirely by professional scientists ( Meiners et al 2019 , Graham et al 2021 ). B) Bee monitoring programs that rely on participants from the public to conduct state-wide collections of bees such as the Oregon Bee Atlas ( Best et al 2022 ) and Abeilles Citoyennes (Citizen Bees) in Québec ( Rondeau et al 2023 ). C) Bee monitoring approaches that use observations (typically photographs) from the public such as Beewatching ( Flaminio et al 2021 ) and Bumble Bee Watch ( MacPhail et al 2020 ).…”

“…1B ). For example, the Oregon Bee Atlas ( Best et al 2022 ), Alaska Bee Atlas ( Fulkerson et al 2023 ), and Abeilles Citoyennes (Citizen Bees) in Québec ( Rondeau et al 2023 ) train participants to collect bees across a wide spatial area. Bee specimens collected by these participants are returned to experts for taxonomic identification and stored in museum collections.…”