This summer, Ashton Sturm hopes to finish the first comprehensive measure of how many different native bee species there are in Alberta and the size of their populations. It's a complex task for which she's devised a novel strategy.
"Bee surveying is really costly, it requires a lot of time and sampling effort, to do this effectively," said Sturm, a masters student in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science.
"We're hoping to find a more cost-effective way of surveying bees by studying clepto-parasites, a proposed indicator of native bee communities. Cleptoparasites are free-living nest parasites that are completely reliant on their host bees for reproduction. We're looking at how reliable they are as indicator species for native bees."
To complete the study she started last summer, Sturm has received a just-announced grant from the Alberta Conservation Association. She is one of six masters students from ALES who've received funding for their projects in biodiversity from the ACA.
There is limited data on the diversity and abundance of native bees in Alberta at the scale Sturm is studying, which includes the North-West agricultural zone near Grande Prairie, the Roy Berg Kinsella Research Station in central Alberta and Ag Canada's rangeland research station out at Onefour. She estimates that there about 80 to 100 different species of native bees in the province, and hopes that this study will provide province-wide baseline data for future monitoring programs.
Studying native bees is important, said Sturm. Managed bees are experiencing huge losses in pollinator populations, which have severe repercussions from a sustainability standpoint. One third of our global food crops rely on pollination. Native bees, which act as a fail-safe for essential pollination services, should be a high priority for conservationists, she said.
The other ALES projects being funded, all from students in the Department of Renewable Resources, include Catherine Denny's study of spatial patterns of food resources and the movement patterns of grizzly bears. Laureen Chiverri's is examining how to optimize partial harvesting for understory plant diversity. Stefan Hupperts is focusing on the lifestyle of ectomycorrihizal fungi, which form a sheath around the root tip of a tree. Caitlin Mader is evaluating the potential of the Aphelinid wasp as a biocontrol agent of European elm scale. Matthew Robinson is studying the influence of variable retention timber harvesting on upland habitat and the population dynamics of wood frogs.
In total, 21 student projects were supported by the ACA Grants in Biodiversity program this year. Grant amounts ranged from $5,330 to $19,620.
The program is funded by the Alberta Conservation Association, a non-profit group that holds special status as a delegated administrative organization, fulfilling responsibilities outlined in the Wildlife Act and defined in a Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta's Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
The goal of ACA-funded research is to conserve, protect and enhance Alberta's fish, wildlife and natural habitats.
The program is operated through the Alberta Cooperative Conservation Research Unit, which is a partnership between the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Lethbridge.
"Bee surveying is really costly, it requires a lot of time and sampling effort, to do this effectively," said Sturm, a masters student in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science.
"We're hoping to find a more cost-effective way of surveying bees by studying clepto-parasites, a proposed indicator of native bee communities. Cleptoparasites are free-living nest parasites that are completely reliant on their host bees for reproduction. We're looking at how reliable they are as indicator species for native bees."
To complete the study she started last summer, Sturm has received a just-announced grant from the Alberta Conservation Association. She is one of six masters students from ALES who've received funding for their projects in biodiversity from the ACA.
There is limited data on the diversity and abundance of native bees in Alberta at the scale Sturm is studying, which includes the North-West agricultural zone near Grande Prairie, the Roy Berg Kinsella Research Station in central Alberta and Ag Canada's rangeland research station out at Onefour. She estimates that there about 80 to 100 different species of native bees in the province, and hopes that this study will provide province-wide baseline data for future monitoring programs.
Studying native bees is important, said Sturm. Managed bees are experiencing huge losses in pollinator populations, which have severe repercussions from a sustainability standpoint. One third of our global food crops rely on pollination. Native bees, which act as a fail-safe for essential pollination services, should be a high priority for conservationists, she said.
The other ALES projects being funded, all from students in the Department of Renewable Resources, include Catherine Denny's study of spatial patterns of food resources and the movement patterns of grizzly bears. Laureen Chiverri's is examining how to optimize partial harvesting for understory plant diversity. Stefan Hupperts is focusing on the lifestyle of ectomycorrihizal fungi, which form a sheath around the root tip of a tree. Caitlin Mader is evaluating the potential of the Aphelinid wasp as a biocontrol agent of European elm scale. Matthew Robinson is studying the influence of variable retention timber harvesting on upland habitat and the population dynamics of wood frogs.
In total, 21 student projects were supported by the ACA Grants in Biodiversity program this year. Grant amounts ranged from $5,330 to $19,620.
The program is funded by the Alberta Conservation Association, a non-profit group that holds special status as a delegated administrative organization, fulfilling responsibilities outlined in the Wildlife Act and defined in a Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta's Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
The goal of ACA-funded research is to conserve, protect and enhance Alberta's fish, wildlife and natural habitats.
The program is operated through the Alberta Cooperative Conservation Research Unit, which is a partnership between the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Lethbridge.