While fire is a natural disturbance in many global ecosystems, anthropogenic changes are affecting fire frequency, severity, and seasonality. Disturbances like wildfire affect bee and wasp communities, but recent meta-analyses are conflicted about whether fire harms or benefits insect pollinators. We investigated the lasting effects of wildfire burn severity on wild bee communities and floral resource availability across different burn severities in two-mixed severity fires that burned >20 years ago. We found that high severity fire has positive effects on bee diversity that are associated with severity-mediated changes to the floral community. We also studied the effects of wildfire burn severity on cavity-nesting bee and wasp abundance and diversity, and nesting habitat across burn severities (high, low, unburned) in the same mixed-severity fires. We found that fire severity had no impact on cavity-nesters, but that high severity fire did increase the amount of coarse woody debris available for nesting.
","abstract_html":"<p>While fire is a natural disturbance in many global ecosystems, anthropogenic changes are affecting fire frequency, severity, and seasonality. Disturbances like wildfire affect bee and wasp communities, but recent meta-analyses are conflicted about whether fire harms or benefits insect pollinators. We investigated the lasting effects of wildfire burn severity on wild bee communities and floral resource availability across different burn severities in two-mixed severity fires that burned >20 years ago. We found that high severity fire has positive effects on bee diversity that are associated with severity-mediated changes to the floral community. We also studied the effects of wildfire burn severity on cavity-nesting bee and wasp abundance and diversity, and nesting habitat across burn severities (high, low, unburned) in the same mixed-severity fires. We found that fire severity had no impact on cavity-nesters, but that high severity fire did increase the amount of coarse woody debris available for nesting.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Smith, Alaina K."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S. in Biological Sciences","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Shannon M. Murphy","Adrian L. Carper","Julie A. Morris","Anna Sher"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-06-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-06-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:48Z","subjects":["Bee","Floral","Nesting","Wasp","Wildfire","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Population Biology"],"languages":["English (eng)"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2430","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Shannon M. Murphy","Adrian L. Carper","Julie A. Morris","Anna Sher"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Smith, Alaina K."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-08-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S. in Biological Sciences"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Bee","Floral","Nesting","Wasp","Wildfire","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Population Biology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English (eng)"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effects of Wildfire Burn Severity on Bee and Wasp Communities Two Decades Post-Fire"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Shannon M. Murphy","Adrian L. Carper","Julie A. Morris","Anna Sher"],"dc:creator":["Smith, Alaina K."],"dc:date.available":["2026-08-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["While fire is a natural disturbance in many global ecosystems, anthropogenic changes are affecting fire frequency, severity, and seasonality. Disturbances like wildfire affect bee and wasp communities, but recent meta-analyses are conflicted about whether fire harms or benefits insect pollinators. We investigated the lasting effects of wildfire burn severity on wild bee communities and floral resource availability across different burn severities in two-mixed severity fires that burned >20 years ago. We found that high severity fire has positive effects on bee diversity that are associated with severity-mediated changes to the floral community. We also studied the effects of wildfire burn severity on cavity-nesting bee and wasp abundance and diversity, and nesting habitat across burn severities (high, low, unburned) in the same mixed-severity fires. We found that fire severity had no impact on cavity-nesters, but that high severity fire did increase the amount of coarse woody debris available for nesting.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2430"],"dc:language":["English (eng)"],"dc:rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
"],"dc:subject":["Bee","Floral","Nesting","Wasp","Wildfire","Ecology and Evolutionary Biology","Life Sciences","Population Biology"],"dc:title":["The Effects of Wildfire Burn Severity on Bee and Wasp Communities Two Decades Post-Fire"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S. in Biological Sciences"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:48Z"}