Improving wild bee monitoring, sampling methods, and conservation
Felix Klaus, Manfred Ayasse, Alice Claßen, Jens Dauber, Tim Diekötter, Jeroen Everaars, Felix Fornoff, Henri Greil, Harmen P. Hendriksma, Tobias Jütte, Alexandra‐Maria Klein, André Krahner, Sara D. Leonhardt, Dorothee J. Lüken, Robert J. Paxton, Christian Schmid‐Egger, Ingolf Steffan‐Dewenter, J. Thiele, Teja Tscharntke, Silvio Erler, Jens Pistorius
Abstract
Bees are the most important group of insect pollinators, but their populations are declining. To gain a better understanding of wild bee responses to different stressors (e.g. land-use change) and conservation measures, regional and national monitoring schemes are currently being established in Germany, which is used here as a model region, and in many other countries. We offer perspectives on how to best design future bee monitoring programs with a focus on evaluating the implementation of conservation measures. We discuss different traditional and novel sampling methods, their efficacy depending on research questions and the life-history traits of target species, and how greater standardization of wild bee sampling and monitoring methods can make data more comparable, contributing to the identification of general trends and mechanisms driving bee populations. Furthermore, the potential impact of bee sampling itself on bee populations is discussed.