Undergraduate Student CSU East Bay, California, United States
Abstract: Historical timber harvest can have long-term effects on habitat structure and biodiversity. Forest pollinators are under-studied compared to open habitats. It is poorly understood if secondary growth forests can support similar pollinator communities as old growth forests. It is also unclear how active management techniques like restoration thinning may affect pollinator communities. We describe the native bee community of timber harvest impacted coastal redwood forest (Sequoia sempervirens) of California and compare species diversity and interaction networks in remnant old growth forests to actively managed and naturally regenerating secondary growth forests. Old growth forests had a higher biodiversity of bee species and a significantly different composition than both actively managed and naturally regenerating secondary forests. Old growth forest bee-plant interaction networks had significantly lower nestedness, specialization, and robustness than expected from null model analysis. Our findings suggest that forest management and timber extraction history may alter pollinator communities in temperate coniferous forest habitats. Assessment of methods to restore bee nesting habitat in forests is needed to direct future restoration efforts that may maintain ecosystem function.
