Biology subjects

Rodewald, A. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Rodewald, A. D..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Indicators of a data-deficient taxa: combining bird and environmental data enhances predictive accuracy of wild bee richness

Widespread declines in wild bee populations necessitate urgent action, but there remains insufficient data to guide conservation efforts. Addressing this data deficit, we investigated the relative performance of environmental and/or taxon-based indicators to predict wild bee richness in the eastern and central U.S. Our methodology leveraged publicly available data on bees (SCAN and GBIF data repository), birds (eBird participatory science project) and land cover data (USGS Cropland Data Layer). We used a Bayesian variable selection algorithm to select variables that best predicted bee richness using two datasets: a semi-structured dataset covering a wide geographical and temporal range and a structured dataset covering a focused extent with a standardized protocol. We demonstrate that an indicator based on the combination of bird and land cover data was better at predicting wild bee richness across broad geographies than indicators based on land cover or birds alone, particularly for the semi-structured dataset. In the case of wild bees specifically, we suggest that bird and land cover data serve as useful indicators to guide monitoring and conservation priorities until the quality and quantity of bee data improve.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Advancing bee conservation in the US: gaps and opportunities in data collection and reporting

Bee conservation in the U.S. is currently hindered by challenges associated with assessing the status and trends of a diverse group of >3000 species, many of which are rare, endemic to small areas, and/or exhibit high inter-annual variation in population size. Fundamental information about the distribution of most species across space and time, thus, is lacking yet urgently needed to assess population status, guide conservation plans, and prioritize actions among species and geographies. Using wild bee data from two public data repositories representing the contiguous U.S., we evaluated the availability and sufficiency of data for use in species assessments of wild bees. We also examined the number of bee species recorded in each U.S. state and the proportion of species with recent records (2012-2021). Although efforts to monitor bees continue to grow, there remains a massive paucity of data. Exceedingly few records (0.04%) reported both sampling protocol and effort, greatly limiting the usefulness of the data. Few species or locations have adequate publicly available data to support analyses of population status or trends, and fewer than half of species have sufficient data to delineate geographic range. Despite an exponential increase in data submissions since the 2000s, only 47% of species were reported within the last decade, which may be driven by how data are collected, reported, and shared, or may reflect troubling patterns of local or large-scale declines and extirpations. Based on our analysis, we provide recommendations to improve the quality and quantity of data that can be used to detect, understand, and respond to changes in wild bee populations.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Protected area planning to conserve biodiversity in an uncertain future

Protected areas are a key instrument for conservation. Despite this, they are vulnerable to risks associated with weak governance, land use intensification, and climate change. Using a novel hierarchical optimization approach, we identified priority areas for expanding the global protected area system to explicitly account for such risks whilst maximizing protection of all known terrestrial vertebrate species. We illustrate how reducing exposure to these risks requires expanding the area of the global protected area system by 1.6% while still meeting conservation targets. Incorporating risks from weak governance drove the greatest changes in spatial priorities for protection, while incorporating risks from climate change required the largest increase in global protected area. Conserving wide-ranging species required countries with relatively strong governance to protect more land when bordering nations with comparatively weak governance. Our results underscore the need for cross-jurisdictional coordination and demonstrate how risk can be efficiently incorporated into conservation planning. Article Impact StatementAccounting for governance, land use and climate risks will result in more resilient and effective conservation effort for biodiversity.

ecology↗