Native bees are a rich natural resource in urban California gardens

Frankie, Gordon W.; Thorp, Robbin W.; Hernandez, Jennifer L.; Rizzardi, M.; Ertter, Barbara; Pawelek, Jaime C; Witt, Sandra; Schindler, M.; Coville, Rollin E.; Wojcik,

doi:10.3733/ca.v063n03p113

Cited by 107 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…In spring of 2007 we began bringing bee attractive plants, including natives, non-natives, annuals, and perennials, to Emerson Community Garden. This site was added in 2007 to a California statewide survey currently being conducted by our labs at University of California, Berkeley and Davis (Frankie et al 2009a). Previously, only the California Polytechnic State University Arboretum (Cal Poly) and a few residential gardens were monitored for native bees in San Luis Obispo, but this mainly provided spring/early summer information as it contained mostly California native plants, which have their greatest flowering at this time of year.…”

Section: Garden Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A total of 129 individual plants representing 20 different types, including hybrids, cultivars, and varieties, were brought to the garden in 2007. Many of the plants, 13 of 20 types, were on the target plant list (Frankie et al 2009a). Observations were made on flowering condition as they began to mature, as well as types of bees that began to visit them.…”

Section: Plant Additions From 2007-2009mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Emerson Garden was selected as an additional site because it provided summer/fall opportunities for monitoring and sampling bees on non-native plant species (as well as a few natives). The statewide survey monitors 31 target plant types at 9 urban sites distributed widely from northern to southern California (Frankie et al 2009a). …”

Section: Garden Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comm. ), and almost 250 bee species (~15%) have been found to date in surveyed urban areas throughout the state (Frankie et al 2009a). Further, existing gardens have the potential to be modified to become more pollinator-friendly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gardens can be designed and managed to successfully attract native bee species that will not only forage for pollen and nectar from flowers, but will also find spaces to nest, either in the ground or in existing cavities (Fetridge et al 2008;Frankie et al 2005Frankie et al , 2009a. In California there are over 1,600 native bee species (R.W.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modification of a Community GArden to Attract Native Bee Pollinators in Urban San Luis Obispo, California

Pawelek¹,

Frankie²,

Thorp³

et al. 2009

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Gardens have become increasingly important places for growing nutritional food, for conserving biodiversity, for biological and ecological research and education, and for community gathering. Gardens can also be designed with the goal of attracting specific wildlife, like birds and butterflies, but pollinators, like bees, can also be drawn to specially planned and modified gardens. A community garden in San Luis Obispo, California provided the setting for modification with the goal of attracting native bee pollinators by planting known bee-attractive plants. The local gardeners participated in a survey questionnaire and focused interviews to provide their input and interest in such a project. Presentations on our work with native bees in urban environments and gardening to attract bees were also given to interested gardeners. Work of this type also benefited from a lead gardener who managed donated bee plants and kept up momentum of the project. Modification of the garden and monitoring of native bees started in 2007 and continued through the growing season of 2009. Diversity of collected and observed native bees has increased each year since 2007. To date, 40 species in 17 genera of mostly native bees has been recorded from the garden, and this number is expected to increase through time.

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Section: Garden Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plant Additions From 2007-2009mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Garden Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Modification of a Community GArden to Attract Native Bee Pollinators in Urban San Luis Obispo, California

Pawelek¹,

Frankie²,

Thorp³

et al. 2009

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Rarity begets rarity: Social and environmental drivers of rare organisms in cities

Ong

Lin

Lucatero

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Cities are sometimes characterized as homogenous with species assemblages composed of abundant, generalist species having similar ecological functions. Under this assumption, rare species, or species observed infrequently, would have especially high conservation value in cities for their potential to increase functional diversity. Management to increase the number of rare species in cities could be an important conservation strategy in a rapidly urbanizing world. However, most studies of species rarity define rarity in relatively pristine environments where human management and disturbance is minimized. We know little about what species are rare, how many species are rare, and what management practices promote rare species in urban environments. Here, we identified which plants and species of birds and bees that control pests and pollinate crops are rare in urban gardens and assessed how social, biophysical factors, and cross‐taxonomic comparisons influence rare species richness. We found overwhelming numbers of rare species, with more than 50% of plants observed classified as rare. Our results highlight the importance of women, older individuals, and gardeners who live closer to garden sites in increasing the number of rare plants within urban areas. Fewer rare plants were found in older gardens and gardens with more bare soil. There were more rare bird species in larger gardens and more rare bee species for which canopy cover was higher. We also found that in some cases, rarity begets rarity, with positive correlations found between the number of rare plants and bee species and between bee and bird species. Overall, our results suggest that urban gardens include a high number of species existing at low frequency and that social and biophysical factors promoting rare, planned biodiversity can cascade down to promote rare, associated biodiversity.

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Vegetation complexity and nesting resource availability predict bee diversity and functional traits in community gardens

Felderhoff

Gathof

Buchholz

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Urban gardens can support diverse bee communities through resource provision in resource poor environments. Yet the effects of local habitat and landscape factors on wild bee communities in cities is still insufficiently understood, nor is how this information could be applied to urban wildlife conservation. Here we investigate how taxonomic and functional diversity of wild bees and their traits in urban community gardens are related to garden factors and surrounding landscape factors (e.g., plant diversity, amount of bare ground, amount of nesting resources, amount of landscape imperviousness). Using active and passive methods in 18 community gardens in Berlin, Germany, we documented 26 genera and 102 species of bees. We found that higher plant species richness and plant diversity as well as higher amounts of deadwood in gardens leads to higher numbers of wild bee species and bee (functional) diversity. Furthermore, higher landscape imperviousness surrounding gardens correlates with more cavity nesting bees, whereas a higher amount of bare ground correlates with more ground‐nesting bees. Pollen specialization was positively associated with plant diversity, but no factors strongly predicted the proportion of endangered bees. Our results suggest that, aside from foraging resources, nesting resources should be implemented in management for more pollinator‐friendly gardens. If designed and managed using such evidence‐based strategies, urban gardens can create valuable foraging and nesting habitats for taxonomically and functionally diverse bee communities in cities.

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Native bees are a rich natural resource in urban California gardens

Cited by 107 publications

References 10 publications

Modification of a Community GArden to Attract Native Bee Pollinators in Urban San Luis Obispo, California

Modification of a Community GArden to Attract Native Bee Pollinators in Urban San Luis Obispo, California

Rarity begets rarity: Social and environmental drivers of rare organisms in cities

Vegetation complexity and nesting resource availability predict bee diversity and functional traits in community gardens

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