{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132691"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132691","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Inferring rare bumble bee species occurrences from nontarget bumble bee assemblages","abstract":"Global declines in pollinator populations, particularly among insects, threaten the vital ecosystem services that such groups provide, which are crucial to the productivity of agricultural systems and the success of wild plant communities. Bumble bees are some of the most effective pollinators in temperate climates thanks to their cold hardiness, ability to buzz pollinate, and generalist foraging tendencies, but many species are experiencing sharp declines. The endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is one such species, now occupying only 8% of its historical range. As recovery efforts for B. affinis are hindered by imperfect detection and complex habitat requirements, I explored nontarget bumble bees as potential surrogates for inferring or predicting the local presence of B. affinis, focusing on taxonomic diversity (richness, abundance, composition), co-occurrence patterns, multispecies indicators, and B. affinis detection probability. Nontarget species richness, total abundance, and select species abundances were all significantly greater in detection sites, and several species co-occurred with B. affinis at greater than expected frequency. Three species – B. auricomus, B. fervidus, B. rufocinctus – emerged as surrogates across multiple lines of analysis, suggesting similar habitat requirements to B. affinis. These species may be used to guide recovery actions for B. affinis, helping to guide monitoring efforts by highlighting where to conduct surveys to increase knowledge of B. affinis grid occupancy. The results also emphasize what the best times are to conduct surveys to maximize detection of B. affinis.","abstract_html":"Global declines in pollinator populations, particularly among insects, threaten the vital ecosystem services that such groups provide, which are crucial to the productivity of agricultural systems and the success of wild plant communities. Bumble bees are some of the most effective pollinators in temperate climates thanks to their cold hardiness, ability to buzz pollinate, and generalist foraging tendencies, but many species are experiencing sharp declines. The endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is one such species, now occupying only 8% of its historical range. As recovery efforts for B. affinis are hindered by imperfect detection and complex habitat requirements, I explored nontarget bumble bees as potential surrogates for inferring or predicting the local presence of B. affinis, focusing on taxonomic diversity (richness, abundance, composition), co-occurrence patterns, multispecies indicators, and B. affinis detection probability. Nontarget species richness, total abundance, and select species abundances were all significantly greater in detection sites, and several species co-occurred with B. affinis at greater than expected frequency. Three species – B. auricomus, B. fervidus, B. rufocinctus – emerged as surrogates across multiple lines of analysis, suggesting similar habitat requirements to B. affinis. These species may be used to guide recovery actions for B. affinis, helping to guide monitoring efforts by highlighting where to conduct surveys to increase knowledge of B. affinis grid occupancy. The results also emphasize what the best times are to conduct surveys to maximize detection of B. affinis.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Garrett, Aidan P."],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Entomology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bried, Jason T","Zaya, David","Harmon-Threatt, Alexandra"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["Bombus affinis","bumble bee","surrogate species","conservation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Aidan Garrett"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132691","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bried, Jason T","Zaya, David","Harmon-Threatt, Alexandra"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Garrett, Aidan P."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-12-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Entomology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Bombus affinis","bumble bee","surrogate species","conservation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Aidan Garrett"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132691"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Global declines in pollinator populations, particularly among insects, threaten the vital ecosystem services that such groups provide, which are crucial to the productivity of agricultural systems and the success of wild plant communities. Bumble bees are some of the most effective pollinators in temperate climates thanks to their cold hardiness, ability to buzz pollinate, and generalist foraging tendencies, but many species are experiencing sharp declines. The endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is one such species, now occupying only 8% of its historical range. As recovery efforts for B. affinis are hindered by imperfect detection and complex habitat requirements, I explored nontarget bumble bees as potential surrogates for inferring or predicting the local presence of B. affinis, focusing on taxonomic diversity (richness, abundance, composition), co-occurrence patterns, multispecies indicators, and B. affinis detection probability. Nontarget species richness, total abundance, and select species abundances were all significantly greater in detection sites, and several species co-occurred with B. affinis at greater than expected frequency. Three species – B. auricomus, B. fervidus, B. rufocinctus – emerged as surrogates across multiple lines of analysis, suggesting similar habitat requirements to B. affinis. These species may be used to guide recovery actions for B. affinis, helping to guide monitoring efforts by highlighting where to conduct surveys to increase knowledge of B. affinis grid occupancy. The results also emphasize what the best times are to conduct surveys to maximize detection of B. affinis.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01","The student, Aidan Garrett, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-04 at 17:11.","The student, Aidan Garrett, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-12-04 at 17:18.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-12-05 at 11:16.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23068 on 2026-02-19 at 18:46:45"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Inferring rare bumble bee species occurrences from nontarget bumble bee assemblages"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bried, Jason T","Zaya, David","Harmon-Threatt, Alexandra"],"dc:creator":["Garrett, Aidan P."],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-12-05"],"dc:description":["Global declines in pollinator populations, particularly among insects, threaten the vital ecosystem services that such groups provide, which are crucial to the productivity of agricultural systems and the success of wild plant communities. Bumble bees are some of the most effective pollinators in temperate climates thanks to their cold hardiness, ability to buzz pollinate, and generalist foraging tendencies, but many species are experiencing sharp declines. The endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is one such species, now occupying only 8% of its historical range. As recovery efforts for B. affinis are hindered by imperfect detection and complex habitat requirements, I explored nontarget bumble bees as potential surrogates for inferring or predicting the local presence of B. affinis, focusing on taxonomic diversity (richness, abundance, composition), co-occurrence patterns, multispecies indicators, and B. affinis detection probability. Nontarget species richness, total abundance, and select species abundances were all significantly greater in detection sites, and several species co-occurred with B. affinis at greater than expected frequency. Three species – B. auricomus, B. fervidus, B. rufocinctus – emerged as surrogates across multiple lines of analysis, suggesting similar habitat requirements to B. affinis. These species may be used to guide recovery actions for B. affinis, helping to guide monitoring efforts by highlighting where to conduct surveys to increase knowledge of B. affinis grid occupancy. The results also emphasize what the best times are to conduct surveys to maximize detection of B. affinis.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-12-01","The student, Aidan Garrett, accepted the attached license on 2025-12-04 at 17:11.","The student, Aidan Garrett, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-12-04 at 17:18.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-12-05 at 11:16.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #23068 on 2026-02-19 at 18:46:45"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132691"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Aidan Garrett"],"dc:subject":["Bombus affinis","bumble bee","surrogate species","conservation"],"dc:title":["Inferring rare bumble bee species occurrences from nontarget bumble bee assemblages"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Entomology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}