By: Nathan Tok, Peak Associate

SFU biological sciences masters student Hanna Jackson and her research team recently published a paper in the scientific journal, Biology Letters, on how climate change affects bumble bee populations in BC.

The Peak reached out to Jackson in an email interview to find out more about this landmark study.

According to Jackson, BC has a higher speciation of bumble bees and given their importance in the ecosystem and food production, it was important to understand how they’re being affected.

Jackson explained, “Bumble bees are particularly effective pollinators. Many plants rely on them for pollination that allows them to reproduce and keep our ecosystems functioning.”

Jackson and the research team collected information on all bumble bee observations within North America from 1900 onwards. They also collected data regarding temperature, precipitation and flower abundance variables. A statistical model called an occupancy model was used to see how these environmental variables affected the bumble bee species.

Jackson and the team created two occupancy models. The first looked to see if speciation increased or decreased over the past 120 years. The second model examined how temperature, precipitation and floral resources predicted speciation.

The team found that 37 out of 46 species of bumble bees were adversely affected by temperature changes. Jackson said, “We did note that many of the species that were most negatively affected were species that live in boreal (more northern) climates.

“It is possible that warming temperatures have [led] to bumble bees being subjected to temperatures that are above their limit, leading to that species leaving that place that is now too hot,” explained Jackson.

As bumble bee species tend to be adapted to colder climates, Jackson said, “The negative effect of increases in temperature is not surprising [though] bumble bees’ responses to their environment is very different from species to species.”

As BC is home to a diverse range of bumble bee species, Jackson thinks a few species will increase their range as the climate changes. Though most will find their range inhibited by the changing climate.

Jackson believes the community has a role to play to prevent the decline of bumble bee populations. “People can help by planting gardens with native flowers that bumble bees rely on for food,” she said. Additionally, she suggested participating in community projects. “One easy example is the app iNaturalist where people can take pictures of species they find and scientists can identify them and then use these records in their research.”

Jackson’s research article is available on the Royal Society Publishing website.