Ohio State, State of Ohio harness skills to save wildlife

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Ohio State, State of Ohio harness skills to save wildlife

Ohio Biodiversity Conservation Partnership supports conservation efforts

Just how many species of bees live in Ohio? Based on other states, estimates land between 400 and 450. Until recently, there hasn't been a way to be sure.

Thanks to the Ohio Biodiversity Conservation Partnership (OBCP), the Ohio Bee Survey is entering its fifth year of data collection. More than 330 species of bees have been collected either in water bowls or nets, including almost 50 "specialist" species.

"Specialist bees have narrow diets, restricting their pollen collection to a few plant species, and often exhibit specific habitat associations, too," said Karen Goodell, a professor at The Ohio State University Newark and a member of OBCP. "We've collected a ton of ecological data over the last few years about these rare species. We now know where they occur and have a better understanding of their habit requirements."

OBCP was founded at the university in 2010. H. Lisle Gibbs has been the director since its inception. A collaboration between Ohio State's Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology and the School of Environment and Natural Resources brings research expertise to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distributes funding to each state to support animal conservation through the State Wildlife Grant Program. Ohio receives about $3 million annually, and roughly one-third goes to OBCP.

"We have Ohio State faculty working closely with the Ohio Division of Wildlife," Gibbs said. "We provide scientific research to help them do their job, which is to protect the biodiversity of the state."

OBCP's knowledge base is wide-ranging, Gibbs said.

"We're talking about insects to vertebrates: rattlesnakes, hellbenders and more," he said. "The state draws on our expertise, and we move forward with research."

The relationship between Ohio State and the Ohio Division of Wildlife has developed into a strong one over the last 15 years, Gibbs said. Ohio State has proven it can be a good, reliable partner to the division.

"One of the things I've learned in my career is that trust is important," he said. "There is a great deal of trust involved in this partnership. Both organizations take the long view, that we're in this for a long time, and the work is important."

Workforce development is a byproduct of the collaboration, he said.

"In addition to research, we're doing practical things here," he said. "We're training students who can move into jobs at the division. And the funding we receive covers all components of research, so it supports graduate and undergraduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows at the university"

One method of data collection for the bee survey consisted of trapping bees in passive water traps. The traps often catch other insects as well, Goodell said.

"We call that 'bycatch,'" she said. "Flies, butterflies, spiders, ants - we saved all those specimens, which have become sources for undergraduate projects."

One of those projects provided a valuable update to state hoverfly species counts.

"Hoverflies are considered pollinators and beneficial insects," she said. "We've now completed the largest hoverfly survey of Ohio. Prior to this, the most recent one was done 100 years ago."

In addition to the researchers, students and division employees, another group of people is contributing to OBCP's work: community scientists. Many of the bee specimens are collected by volunteers with an interest in science, Goodell said.

"There are quite a lot of people interested in pollinators in Ohio," she said. "Many are retirees who are looking to do something engaging and helpful."

"You can leverage the interest of the general public, a cast of thousands, to collect data," Gibbs said. "That volume wouldn't be possible with a small team of three or four graduate students and a postdoc."

This collaboration between academics and government employees, between the state and the people who live in it, is exactly what Gibbs hoped to achieve 15 years ago.

"What we're doing is special," Gibbs said. "We are a land-grant university, and this is exactly what we're supposed to be doing - conducting research that benefits the citizens of Ohio."

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