Walker Bensch - "Does elk trampling alter the nesting bee community at Fossil Butte National Monument?"
"I am incredibly thankful for this award from the Biodiversity Institute. I will be using the award money to support a technician which is necessary for the successful completion of my field work. Support from the Biodiversity Institute is special to me as the organization embodies outreach and education on overlooked and imperiled species. Improving both scientific and public knowledge of our native bees is central to my career goals, and I am excited to continue to do so through this project and its support from the Biodiversity Institute."
Walker Bensch
2025 Recipient of the Biodiversity Institute Graduate Student Excellence Grant
Department of Zoology and Physiology
Graduate Advisor: Lusha Tronstad
Background:
More Than Just Honey Bees
When most people think “bee”, they think “honey bee”. I can’t exactly blame them when they support a tasty, multi-billion-dollar industry. Honey bees however, are only one non-native species out of the nearly 4,000 native species in North America. Of those species, approximately 80% are ground nesting species that lead entirely different lives compared to better-known social species, like honey bees and bumble bees. Because ground nesting bees make up the majority of bee species, understanding their ecology is vital to making informed conservation management decisions in the face of sweeping pollinator declines.
The Project: Elk and Bees
Soil quality is of great importance for ground nesting bees to establish nests and overwinter successfully. Prior research has shown that soil compaction can reduce the diversity of bees capable of creating nests. Some research has connected cattle stocking density in pastures to changes in the bee community, in part due to their trampling of the soil. Combine this with the fact that cattle change vegetation density and floral diversity, and it is easy to see how large grazing animals are ecosystem engineers for bees. No studies, however, have extended this concept to other large ungulates, like elk. At Fossil Butte National Monument, the West Green River elk herd migrates through the park annually. A previous study found that during hunting season, elk congregate in the park to avoid surrounding land where hunting is permitted. This creates the unique opportunity to investigate how the increased trampling and grazing activity of elk in the park affects nesting resources, floral resources, and overall bee diversity compared to reduced elk activity on surrounding land. In doing so, we will expand our knowledge of the ecology of ground nesting bees while providing valuable insights to park management at Fossil Butte National Monument.
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