Productive Forests and Rangelands: Forest Measurements and Pollinators

This was the second of four webinars in our series focused on science supporting Productive Forests and Rangelands. During this webinar, scientists from the Rocky Mountain Research Station presented their latest research in three short presentations.

The Value of Forests and Forest Management to Insect Pollinators

Presented by Justin Runyon, Research Entomologist

Forests play an essential role in conserving pollinating insects and pollination services, and many species depend on forests. Forest management can affect the abundance and diversity of pollinators by changing the availability of food and nesting resources. The effects of common types of forest management (thinning, prescribed fire, etc.) on pollinator communities will be reviewed and recommendations for managers to optimize forest conditions for conserving pollinators provided.

Bee Nutritional Ecology: How Insect Behavior, Plant Communities, and Conservation Fit Together

Presented by Anthony Vaudo, Research Biological Scientist

Pollen is at the heart of plant reproduction and bee pollination services. Thousands of bee species are dependent on pollen protein and lipid macronutrients for reproduction, development, and resistance to stressors. In this presentation, Anthony shares how his research revealed that plants differ widely in their nutritional values, and bees have different nutritional needs which drives their host-plant preferences. When choosing plants for sustainable habitat restoration, prioritizing nutritionally diverse resources may help maintain healthy pollinator populations and their ecosystem services.

Using FIA Data and the Forest Vegetation Simulator to Estimate Timing of Peak Forest Growth

Presented by John Shaw, Research Forester and Analyst

Some traditional descriptors of forest growth, such as normal yield tables, have limited value for current planning needs because they are based on ideal conditions and are possibly based on limited empirical data.  Also, they are rarely standardized over entire species’ ranges and geographical coverage can be spotty. This presentation describes a consistent approach for assessing the range of age of culmination of mean annual increment, using FIA data and the Forest Vegetation Simulator at a national scale.