What?
The Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas is a collaborative project to track and conserve the bumble bees of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Our goal is to gain a better understanding of the distribution of bumble bees throughout the region. This will help us to more effectively enact conservation measures that will benefit these important native pollinators. We've divided the area up into priority grid cells to ensure a broad distribution of sampling in all of the unique habitats of the region. This project will help the researchers gain a better understanding of where bumble bees are thriving in the Pacific Northwest, and glean information about what habitat features are contributing to productive bumble bee communities. Ultimately we will better understand how to manage lands throughout the region that will help to support a more healthy ecosystem.
Why?
Bumble bees are essential pollinators in our natural landscapes, as well as in gardens and on farms. Idaho, Oregon and Washington are home to nearly 30 species of bumble bees, and several of them face an uncertain future. The western bumble bee has declined dramatically - especially in the western portion of its range, and species like Morrison’s bumble bee and the Suckley cuckoo bumble bee are in decline. Conservation partners in Oregon, Washington and Idaho have joined forces to support bumble bee conservation through a region-wide project to collect information on bumble bee species distribution. The missing partner is you - become a citizen scientist and join us!
