AUTHORS: Ken McCarty, Missouri State Parks (retired)
ABSTRACT: Native Ozark woodland- and glade dominated landscapes easily support 30 to 40 percent of Missouri’s native plant species at even a single site, including large numbers of conservative species. Their plant-dense, season-long floral progressions potentially support equally robust and diverse bee communities. Forty years of conservation effort protecting remnants, applying fire, and managing woody density or composition has yielded impressive examples and many designated Missouri Natural Areas. Intensive surveys since 2016 have explored bee diversity and bee community characteristics across 17 such sites within Missouri’s state parks. This presentation summarizes the findings, to emphasize the important role remnant native ecosystems play as reservoirs of bee biodiversity, and benchmarks that may help pollinator conservation efforts in more developed or altered contemporary environments.
