The Effect of Key Climate Variables on Bee Distributions in California
Jessie Davidson, George Brooder, Jem Dimaano-Soliza, Benjamin Gantt
Department of Biology
Faculty Supervisor: Gretchen LeBuhn
Understanding the distribution patterns of bees and the climate drivers of those patterns is important for conserving bee species in a changing climate. To date, these patterns are unexplored in California and North America. We filled this gap using bioclimatic variables from WorldClim to analyze the relative importance of key temperature and precipitation variables on distributions of bees and of endemic (rare) bees; using linear models in R to predict these relationships. Our preliminary results suggest that mean diurnal temperature range and total annual precipitation are key for species richness (number of species) and precipitation seasonality and total annual precipitation are key for endemic (rare) species. These preliminary results suggest that areas that will see significant shifts in precipitation may be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and warrant closer monitoring and further research to determine appropriate conservation actions.