Beyond the bloom: Creating opportunities for healthy ecosystems and native bees

Abstract

Native bee populations are declining worldwide, threatening both natural ecosystems and agriculture as these insects pollinate about 80 percent of all flowering plants. Research at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range, managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, points to strategies for supporting native bees while maintaining grazing and timber production.

Scientists with the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station and Oregon State University identified more than 300 native bee species at the study site in eastern Oregon. They found that bees rely heavily on flowering shrubs in early spring, even though the shrubs represented less than 7 percent of available blooms. They also found a 60- to 64-percent overlap between the plants that bees forage and those that mammals such as deer, elk, and cattle graze.

To address this potential resource conflict, scientists evaluated the potential benefits of delaying livestock grazing until after peak wildflower bloom. Their findings suggest that this strategy would decrease the effects of cattle grazing on flowers in early summer, when bee communities are most diverse, and thus minimize potential negative effects on bee populations.

The study found that small management adjustments can significantly benefit native bee populations, including rotating grazing based on flowering cycles, protecting flower-rich areas until after peak bloom, and planting diverse plants that bloom throughout the growing season as part of restoration efforts.

Citation

Kantor, Sylvia; Rowland, Mary; DeBano, Sandy. 2025. Beyond the bloom: Creating opportunities for healthy ecosystems and native bees. Science Findings 273. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 6 p.