'Opportunity for farmers': Southern Plains bumblebee under Endangered Species Act review
It comes as no surprise that the Southern Plains bumblebee is already potentially extinct in West Texas, a region marked as one of the largest agricultural landscapes in the nation. For decades, the species has dwindled in numbers across the U.S., and many experts point to farming as the primary driver.
Now, in a move long awaited by conservationists and biologists, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced its decision to review the species for federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.
In the remaining parts of Texas where the bumblebee is still known to live, including the northernmost portion of the Panhandle and much of the land east of Interstate 35, there’s still an opportunity to sustain the species without federal protections.
But Jess Tyler, the staff scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity who filed the petition requesting the bumblebee’s consideration for listing in July 2022, emphasized that the primary goal for federal listing isn't simply to sustain the population but rather to recover it — both by increasing numbers within its current range and reintroducing it into areas like West Texas, where the Southern Plains bumblebee has vanished.
“Conservation can’t come too early for the Southern Plains bumblebee; we’re hoping that the Fish and Wildlife Service takes the decline of the species seriously,” Tyler said. “There are 46 species of bumblebees in North America, and over the last few decades, we’re seeing that we’re losing the diversity of species across the entire country. Even really common species, like the American bumblebee, are not as common as it used to be. But relatively less common species, like the Southern Plains bumblebee, are becoming even less common.
“Getting ahead of the curve is really important,” he added.
In the petition, in which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed all claims as factual, Tyler highlighted the most pressing challenges for the species: Monoculture crop systems, which leave minimal to no habitat for food and nesting; pesticide use; and residential and commercial development.
He also cited habitat contamination and invasive species, including non-native plants — which overcrowd and replace the native flora crucial for food — and introduced taxa — like the commercialized honeybee, which create competition for food and potentially promote disease transmission.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which designated the Southern Plains bumblebee as endangered on its Red List of Threatened Species, notes that the current population occupies only approximately 20 to 25% of its historic range. Referring to a 2012 article in Biodiversity and Conservation, which indicated that the species persisted in only 27% of its re-sampled historic range and exhibited a significant decline in relative abundance, the IUCN stated in its 2014 portfolio that the bumblebee's population had decreased by about half.
Tyler added that the bumblebee once inhabited 26 states in the Midwest and eastern U.S. However, over the years, it has disappeared from six states, including Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Ohio.
“It is still locally abundant in some places in Texas,” Tyler said. “But (as we’ve discussed), grassland ecosystems are very imperiled and are being degraded by many factors, and that's the kind of habitat the bee needs to survive.”
Silent Plains, Part One: Silent Plains: With a history of neglect, grasslands have become the forgotten ecosystem
Part Two: ‘The most imperiled ecosystem’: Grassland wildlife declining in West Texas, Great Plains
More: Bison decline contributed to dwindling prairie landscape on Great Plains
‘An opportunity for farmers’
In the expansive 12,000-square-mile area between Abilene, Amarillo, and Midland, the Southern Plains bumblebee had not been observed for 15 to 20 years when the IUCN portfolio was published in 2014, leading to its potential extinction classification.
Now, another decade has passed, and the bumblebee has presumably not made its return to the region, said Rich Hatfield, who curated the species portfolio in his role as the IUCN Red List authority for the bumblebee specialist group.
“The species is grassland dependent, and a vast majority of our historic grasslands in that region have been converted to agriculture or have been converted to sprawling cities or other things,” said Hatfield, who also serves as a senior conservation biologist for the endangered species program of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Data confirms that it’s been a while since the Southern Plains bumblebee — despite its name — has made its mark on West Texas.
One record from the Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN), which collects data from more than 225 universities, agencies, and organizations across the nation, shows the region’s most recent sighting in July 1997 near Sterling, Texas. Furthermore, among the more than 5,800 species and 4.6 million specimens in the Invertebrate Zoology Collection at the Museum of Texas Tech University's Natural Science Research Laboratory, there is only one Southern Plains bumblebee on record.
Hatfield said he believes it will take federal protections for the species population to recover. But he also recognizes the essential need to strike a balance between conservation for the sustainability of wildlife and agriculture, which humans depend upon.
“If the species was listed, it could certainly create a lot of positive conservation action throughout the region,” Hatfield said. “And in my opinion, everybody should be on board with that, including farmers, many of whom are dependent on pollinators for their livelihood.”
Acknowledging the contentious debate surrounding the Endangered Species Act and its implications for private property rights and regulations, he believes the conservation of this species as a net-positive opportunity rather than an imposition. He added that this effort is something that all should be willing to embrace because of the services they contribute. (According to a 2021 study published in Insects, scientists have calculated that the annual estimated benefit of ecological services provided by native insects in the United States surpasses $57 billion. Bee pollination, on its own, amounts to more than $3 billion of this total.)
“I totally understand and appreciate the perspective of people not wanting more regulations or not wanting the government telling them how they can do their work,” Hatfield said. “But I think we also all need to step back and recognize that it’s our daily actions that have led this species to this status. The agricultural system that we’ve created does not work for this species, and so we, as a society, if we’re going to value these species, if we’re going to value the contributions that they give us for our food and for our healthy ecosystem, that means we need to change the way we work — and that’s not happening voluntarily. We’re still in monoculture systems, and we’re using more chemicals.
“So, if we need to force people to behave differently by regulations, that’s because that’s our last option at this point,” he added.
If the US Fish and Wildlife Service formally approves the species for federal listing, Hatfield said the government agency would likely incentivize farmers to establish native habitat on their land.
This aims to restore native pollinator populations and promote insect biodiversity and could serve as a natural pest control method and potentially reduce, or even eliminate, the need for chemical usage.
“All of these (practices) can be accomplished with natural habitat,” Hatfield said. “The better we can do to create a more sustainable agricultural system, the better off all of us will be long-term, both health-wise, but also economically for these farmers. Protecting these animals, in my opinion, is a win-win. It’s a win for biodiversity, and it’s a win for farmers.”
Reporter's Note: The Associated Press style for "bumblebees" is one word without a hyphen. While organizations and agencies may differ in their usage, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal adheres to the journalistic style of "bumblebee" following AP guidelines.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 'Opportunity for farmers': Southern Plains bumblebee under ESA review
