Reducing protected lands in a hotspot of bee biodiversity: bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

ABSTRACT: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a federally protected area found in central southern Utah. Designated in 1996 by President William J. Clinton, it was recently reduced in size by President Donald J. Trump in a proclamation that turned the one large monument into three smaller ones. A long-term, standardized study of the bees had been conducted from 2000-2003, revealing 660 species. The bee communities of the area are characterized by being spatially heterogeneous; most of the bees occur in isolated areas, with only a few being both abundant and widespread. Here we examine what affect the recent resizing of the monument has on the number, and ecology, of the bees now excluded from monument boundaries. Using the new monument boundaries and the geographic coordinates associated

SUBMITTER: Wilson JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6284448 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature