CORVALLIS, Ore. — The team that created the Oregon Bee Atlas and the Oregon State University Extension Service Master Melittologist Program has launched an interactive website that packs a powerful punch in expanding public awareness of Oregon’s native bees.
The Melittoflora (meh-lit-toe-flaw-ruh) is a data visualization tool that allows Oregon to lead the way in restoration for our 700-plus native bee species, according to Andony Melathopoulos, an associate professor of pollinator health Extension in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
The Melittoflora, which visualizes about 106,000 records of individual bees visiting plants, is the largest bee-plant interactive network in the world.
The Melittoflora, which visualizes about 106,000 records of individual bees visiting plants, is the largest bee-plant interactive network in the world, according to Melathopoulos. It empowers users to explore species occurrence records of bees interacting with flowering plants.
“This tool allows you to explore the hundreds of bees and how they visit the thousands of flowers throughout the landscapes and all of the ecosystems,” said Lincoln Best, an OSU faculty research assistant, educator for the Master Melittologist Program and taxonomist for the Oregon Bee Atlas project.
Melittology is the study of bee diversity. The data that drives the Melittoflora is compiled by Master Melittologists who roam the state searching out wild bees and the plants that support them. The results provide a snapshot of the current range of each species to better assess their status prior to federal evaluations, according to Melathopoulos.
The Melittofora tool was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, but the data going into the tool is supported by the purchases of Oregon’s “Pollinator Paradise” license plate.
Museum-worthy collection
The Master Melittologist Program started in 2018. It was the first program of its kind in the world, designed to train community scientists to collect and curate bee specimens for university-led studies. Those who complete the intense training will reach journey level as a Master Melittologist, who collect and curate specimens of native bees for the Oregon Bee Atlas.
About 500 people have enrolled in the Master Melittologist Program. The framework of having Extension volunteers provide data for state and provincial Atlases is being replicated in Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.
Master Melittologists who are part of the Oregon Bee Atlas initiative conduct field work that is comprised of taking photos of a flowering plant species use a butterfly net to capture bees visiting the flowering plant host. They document the bees they collect, which they then place in a box and donate to the Pollinator Health Program’s lab at OSU. The specimens are archived in the Oregon State Arthropod Collection.
“They’ve collected 150,000 bee specimens,” Best said. “It’s a museum’s worth of bees. We think our program is the most productive in the world. We’re documenting bees visiting virtually all the native flora in Oregon.”
The value of the data in the Melittoflora stretches beyond those who just want to learn more about bees. If land managers know where the bees are, they could employ enough resources to keep bees healthy and off the threatened or endangered lists of the Endangered Species Act.
“This is going to be a valuable resource for soil and water conservation districts, federal and state agencies and anyone doing land restoration and management,” Best said.
