Friday September 22, 2 – 3 p.m.
Join us each month as plant science and conservation efforts are presented by San Diego Botanic Garden’s staff, research associates, colleagues, and guest speakers. This month we will feature Leif Richardson, conservation biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, who will talk about the ecology and conservation of California’s bumble bees. As pollinators of native plants, bumble bees play a key role in structuring ecosystems. Wild bumble bees also deliver the ecosystem service of pollination to agricultural crop plants, making them critical to human food production. These bees are negatively impacted by habitat loss, agricultural practices, and climate change, with one-quarter of species native to North America now threatened with extinction. California is a bee biodiversity hotspot, but systematic surveys to document bumble bees have never been performed here. The California Bumble Bee Atlas is a community science collaboration filling this gap, with volunteers gathering non-lethal survey data around the state, identifying species in need of conservation, and assisting partners with recovery efforts. In this presentation, we’ll explore the biology of California’s 25 native bumble bee species, as well as review data from the first year of the California Bumble Bee Atlas.
SDBG follows local safety and health guidelines, and supports staff and visitors who choose to wear masks as they prefer.
Class format: In-person, indoors
Cost: Free with Garden admission.
Please register by September 21, walk-ins welcome, space permitting.