First Advisor
Susan Masta
Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Biology
Language
English
Subjects
Bees -- Behavior -- Oregon -- Portland, Animal-plant relationships, Botanical gardens -- Oregon -- Portland
DOI
10.15760/honors-bio.1
Abstract
Solitary native bees are known to be diverse, but are not well studied in Oregon. In order to identify the bee genera present in the Leach Botanical Garden, and their floral usage, a survey was conducted over 2020 and 2021. Biweekly sampling was used to collect bees on flowers, in order to obtain floral usage data. Bees were identified to genus with published taxonomic keys. In total, 19 genera of bees were found. Bee abundance fit a normal distribution, and peaked in July. Ceratina and Lasioglossum were a significant proportion of the population, and were present in the garden from April to September. Megachilidae, especially Osmia, was relatively abundant in April and May. Halictidae was a significant part of the summer and fall bee population. The vast majority of bee genera surveyed were found to be generalists, utilizing many flowers across multiple plant families. Asteraceae was by far the most utilized plant family, with Solidago and Symphyotrichum being highly visited genera. Overall, Leach was found to contain a highly diverse bee population, utilizing a wide array of flowering plants. Asteraceae was found to be a good choice of flower to attract high numbers of bees to a garden space, however early season bees must also be considered in choosing plants.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/38064
Recommended Citation
Page, Joshua, "A Survey of the Solitary Native Bees of the Leach Botanical Garden, and their Floral Associations" (2022). Biology Undergraduate Departmental Honors Theses. 1.
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/bio_honorstheses/1
Comments
An undergraduate honors thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Biology with Departmental Honors.