Member Symposium
Keng-Lou James Hung (he/him/his)
Assistant Professor
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Mary E. Powley
Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory
Norman, Oklahoma
Lindsie M. McCabe (she/her/hers)
Research Entomologist
USDA
Logan, Utah
Paige R. Chesshire
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona
Michael Arduser
Conservation Research Institute, Missouri
Samuel O'Dell III
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Karen W. Wright
Washington State Department of Agriculture
Yakima, Washington
Zachary M. Portman
University of Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Thomas Onuferko
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Jason Gibbs
Professor
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Victor H. Gonzalez (he/him/his)
Assistant Teaching Professor
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Amy K. Buthod
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Neil S. Cobb
BON-EARTH
Flagstaff, Arizona
John S. Ascher
National University of Singapore
Singapore, Singapore
Effective conservation of wild bees requires monitoring species and populations across spatial and temporal scales. These efforts rely on robust baselines, which are lacking in many regions due to the significant resources, expertise, and coordination required to establish comprehensive baselines. Currently, no comprehensive baseline data for bees exist for Oklahoma, despite the state’s exceptional ecoregion diversity and unique position in the transition zone between eastern versus western and northern versus southern biomes. Here, we assessed published literature, collated publicly available records (including community science image databases), examined existing collections, and performed opportunistic surveys of bee faunas to initiate the process of building a statewide inventory.
Published literature reported 110 bee species for Oklahoma, and publicly available records contributed an additional 80 species. Undigitized specimens from personal and institutional collections contributed a further 176 species. Opportunistic surveys from 2021-2023 confirmed ca. 230 species and added ca. 82 additional species, resulting in an incipient state checklist of ca. 448 described species. Of the 19 species of particular conservation concern (NatureServe GH-G3 rank), 11 were recovered in our opportunistic surveys. Our surveys markedly increased the known range for multiple species, expanding species’ range polygons by up to 2528% (however, median = 0%). Opportunistic surveys also revealed 19 plant taxa as being particularly important hubs of bee activity, on which future restoration and monitoring efforts in the state may focus. Our results demonstrate that even cursory surveys with small budgets may be valuable and informative at the incipient stages of a statewide inventory.