There are over 20,000 species of bees around the globe, but information on the location and population health of different species is sparse. In an effort to bolster bee conservation, biologists have created the first modern map of all the bee species around the world.
Michael Orr, the study’s first author told CNN, “We wanted to create the first modern map of bee species richness because we need to know where bees live to conserve them.”
The researchers analyzed data from 5.8 million public bee occurrence records and the biodiversity portal DiscoverLife.org to create the map. They found higher concentrations of bee population diversity in the Northern Hemisphere as well as healthier populations in dry deserts. They concluded that bee populations follow a bimodal latitudinal gradient, meaning populations were most concentrated both away from the poles and away from the equator, in the world’s more temperate regions.
Climate change, pollution, and habitat loss are major threats to bees, but a more comprehensive understanding of the distribution of bee populations will inform strategic and targeted conservation efforts as well as give researchers a baseline for tracking future changes in population location and size.
