Native bees and plant-pollinator interactions in Farm Bill conservation plantings

To address the documented declines in native bees and other beneficial pollinators, the United States Congress passed the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, otherwise known as the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill authorized incentive-based conservation programs to be carried out on agricultural land through the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and encouraged the development of habitat for native and managed pollinators on farms. This project seeks to evaluate the outcome of at least 22 such wildlife habitat plantings that were established in Connecticut and Rhode Island through this program. The project’s objectives are to: a) quantify the key plant species that support wild native bees, especially rare species, b) evaluate the relationship between plant diversity/seed mix and bee species richness, and c) provide information for developing seed mixes that best meet the needs of Rhode Island and Connecticut bees. We conducted monthly surveys of each planting during the growing season (May-September) from 2023-2025 to evaluate wild bee diversity within each planted meadow, as well as the vegetative cover, floral diversity, and abundance and density of blooming inflorescences. We used generalized linear mixed models to analyze the effects of meadow management strategies on bee communities. The results of this study will provide a framework for future plantings in southern New England.