Date of Award:

5-1-2001

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

Edward W. Evans

Committee

Edward W. Evans

Committee

Vincent J. Tepedino

Committee

Leila M. Shultz

Abstract

Three habitats (dunes, mountain slopes, and mud flats) were surveyed for bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in the Bonneville Basin in Utah on lands owned by the U.S. military, the Dugway Proving Grounds and the southern section of the Utah Testing and Training Range, in the summers of 1997 and 1998. Study of dune habitat was emphasized, as it is thought to be important for bees in arid climates, particularly in providing nesting substrate and sources of plant pollen and nectar. Species compositions of bees were determined using pan traps at 16 sites (in three habitats) in 1997, and at 5 dune sites in 1998. In 1997, bee species richness was compared among the three habitats to determine if dune habitats are unusually rich or diverse in bee species compared to surrounding habitats of mountain slopes and mud flats in these arid regions. In the 1997 sampling, a combined total of 112 bee species was recorded. At each site, plant communities were also analyzed to test for a correlation between bee species richness and plant species richness. Over the entire season, a total of 39 animal-pollinated plant species (31 genera, 15 families) was recorded for dune sites and 25 species (21 genera, 12 families) for slope sites. The pattern of distribution and abundance of individual bee species was examined to determine if it conformed to the generalization that the most widely distributed species within a taxon are also typically the most abundant at the sites where they occur. The results revealed that these dunes are not unusually rich in bee species compared to surrounding habitats (though dunes were more species rich than mud flats ) in general, with mean overall bee richness of 30.2 for dunes, 39 for slopes, and 17.7 for mud flats. In addition, bee species richness was not positively correlated with plant species richness (which was highest on dune sites), and actually was negatively correlated. However, the results did support the hypothesis that the most widely distributed bee species are also the most locally abundant and such species tend to persist longer over the season. In 1998 I compared sampling effectiveness for bees using three different pan trap colors (yellow, blue, and white) to evaluate any possible biases from using only yellow pan traps in 1997. Although yellow pan traps did not capture every species present, they did capture all but one of non-incidental species. Sampling in 1997, using only yellow pan traps, provided a robust and representative sampling of the bees in varying habitats of Utah's west desert. By combining both collecting years, 128 bee species were recorded from my study area (Dunes: 108 species [5 families, 31 genera]; Slopes: 65 species [4 families, 25 genera]; Mud flats: 32 species [4 families, 14 genera]).

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