Influence of Wetland Restoration and Adjacent Watersheds on

Native Pollinator Communities in the Rainwater Basin

Cynthia Park Loren Smith, Ted LaGrange, Scott McMurry

Overview • Introduction

o Importance of pollinators o Concern about pollinator decline o Wetlands and prairie as pollinator

habitat

• Playa wetlands in the Rainwater Basin

• Effects of land use on habitat

• Objectives and methods • Preliminary data

Importance of Pollinators • 75 – 90% of our planet’s angiosperms rely on

pollinators to assist with reproduction o 25,000-30,000 species of bees alone are obligate flower visitors

• Contribute to the biodiversity of the planet • Humans rely on many pollinated plant species

o Food o Fiber o Drugs o Fuel o Recreation o Aesthetics

Importance of Pollinators

Importance of Pollinators • Economic value • Many crops require

direct pollinator services

• Indirect pollinator services such as forage material for livestock

• Global value estimated at $122-200 billion/year o $15.12 billion in the United

States alone

Concern about Pollinators • The need is only increasing • Pollinator populations cannot keep up • Massive loss of domestic honeybee populations

o 59% in one year alone

• Decreasing trends of wild pollinator populations o Serious need for documentation of species declines

Reasons for Decline

• Loss of complex floral communities and nesting habitat

• Agricultural cultivation • Potentially harmful

pesticides o Can directly weaken or kill o Indirectly harms by removing

food and habitat

Potential Habitat

• Relatively mobile species • Can persist in small,

fragmented areas • Pollinators can benefit

from adjacent areas of natural habitat

Rainwater Basin Habitat • Great Plains grasslands

are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world

• Landscape has completely been altered o Soy and corn production

• Playa wetlands and prairie uplands may be some of the only areas with necessary resources

Wetlands Reserve Program • <10% of playa wetlands remain • Crucial in protecting natural habitat • Took land out of crop production • Enhanced, restored, or protected wetlands and

immediate watersheds • Secured > 12,000 ha

Playa Wetlands • Crucial ecosystems for the Great Plains

o Recharges the aquifer o Improves water quality o Carbon sequestration o Source of biodiversity

• Each playa exists in its own watershed • Only receive water from precipitation and

catchment runoff • Hydroperiods are affected by watershed size/slope,

soil, and vegetation

Effects of Land Use • Row crop agriculture has led to more sediment

accumulation than can be naturally removed o Shortened hydroperiod o Reduces floral biodiversity in catchment o Fewer pollinator resources leads to less pollination and an even greater

decline in some plant species

Effects of Land Use • Uplands of undisturbed grassland can provide the

necessary habitat requirements o More beneficial forbs o Nesting habitat

• Creates a buffer strip around the wetland o Reduces erosion o Increases soil permeability o Less runoff

Objective 1 • Examine the effects of watershed land use and

wetland presence on pollinator populations across different land use types o Cropland o WRP sites o Reference state o Based on HGM criteria

Comparison with WRP sites • Restoration Practices

o Sediment removal for seed bank

o Planted buffer strip

• Similar species richness, but different plant guilds o More mud-flat annuals o Less deep emergent perennials

• How does this affect the pollinator community?

Hypothesis • Pollinator diversity is going to depend on floral

communities • Agricultural sites will contain the least amount of pollinator biodiversity • Reference state and WRP sites will contain the greatest abundance and biodiversity

Methods • 28 sites across 3 land uses • Sample 28 times over 2 years • Bi-monthly from April - October • Each site will contain 3 wetland and 3 upland

sampling locations

Methods • Blue vane traps

o Set out in the morning (0900-1100) for 24 hour exposure

o Place lid on trap to contain insects

Methods • Hunts

o Adjacent transects placed next to traps o Collect individual pollinators on individual plants o 6 minutes for each transect o Pollinators collected were placed in individual vials with each plant

• All specimens were brought back to OSU for ID

Objective 2 • Compare seasonal changes in the floral community

and pollinator populations in playas and their uplands

• Track seasonal shifts in pollinator important plants throughout the season

• Step point method

Objective 3 • Integrate information with past and on-going

research on major ecosystem services provided by depressional wetlands in Great Plains o Comprehensive understanding of playas

• Collaborated protocols with other studies o North Dakota and Texas

Hunt Richness by Year

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

2014

Crop U

Crop W

Ref U

Ref W

WRP U

WRP W

0

2

4

6

8

10

2015

Hunt Species Accumulation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

6/11/2014 7/11/2014 8/11/2014 9/11/2014

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

4/27/2015 5/27/2015 6/27/2015 7/27/2015 8/27/2015 9/27/2015

2014

2015

Cumulative Hunt Species Richness Over Two Years

Source df F p-value

LandUse 2 6.849 0.002

Position 1 18.821 0.000

LandUse*Position 2 1.682 0.196

Hunt Species Richness Over Two Years

6.28

11.5

14.67

0

5

10

15

20

25

Crop

Ref

WRP

6.93

14.75

0

5

10

15

20

25

Upland Wetland

A AB

A B

B

Implications • Playa wetlands are important areas for necessary

resources • Provide decision makers information to direct

conservation and restoration efforts • Restored sites through WRP are providing great

habitat for pollinating invertebrates.

Acknowledgements • Environmental Protection

Agency • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service • Nebraska Game and Parks

o Bob Meduna o Theron Martin o Randy Stutheit o Gerry Steinaurer

• Oklahoma State University • Angie Begosh • Dale Daniel • Lisa Overall • Lydia Horne • Dylan Cleary • Sam Stroebel

Questions?