Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center is offering a cooperative-agreement funding opportunity to a CESU partner having capability to conduct research and studies related to the long-term demography of bumble bees, with a focus on imperiled species. The research will focus on Bombus affinis (rusty patched bumble bee), the previously-widespread bumble bee species whose populations have declined precipitously over the past two decades. This project will leverage collaborations to incorporate expertise in bumble bee ecology into a large existing project supporting the recovery of endangered and imperiled bumble bees. Current research interests include (1) the establishment and maintenance of site surveys to document long-term trends of rusty patched bumble bee, (2) studies that explore novel technologies for the monitoring of bumble bees, (3) studies that assess the types of sampling effort needed to achieve statistically viable assessments of bumble bee population trends, and (4) efforts to facilitate the compilation of data on bumble bee demography. The outcome of a successful agreement will be research products that help DOI and other land-management partners better understand and implement recovery strategies for imperiled bumble bees. Through this CESU agreement, the federal and state university partners will cooperate fully in development of a research program that will produce final products to be used in support of management decisions pertaining to bumble bees. The cooperation of the USGS and its CESU partner brings a combination of expertise to address this objective that is greater than that possessed by either partner on its own. Bumble bees are important wildlife throughout the world and provide considerable economic benefit to cropping systems that require insect (and particularly buzz) pollination. Several previously-common bumble bee species in North America have declined markedly over the past two decades, prompting the...