Scientists reveal unique role canine workers have in saving crucial species: 'Like we've never had before'
Bumblebees are important pollinators, supporting many of the region's native plants, which can't reproduce without pollination. However, as the world gets hotter and insecticide use pollutes the environment, these adorable insects are under threat. Their declining populations are a source of worry for many who care about the environment.
To help bumblebees, conservationists have to find them. There are many ways for the average person to help, but humans aren't good at finding bumblebee nests, which are hidden underground. To do that, researchers use dogs.
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Specifically, they use Jane and Gerty, two German shorthaired pointers trained by ecologist Jacqueline Staab.
"I wanted to help fill in these knowledge gaps about nesting and overwintering," Staab told the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "I jumped at the opportunity and decided to make training and deploying detection (canines) to conserve and research bees my masters project, and, ultimately, my career and life's mission."
Staab started her program, Darwin's Bee Dogs, in North Carolina in 2019 when she began training her first bee dog, Darwin. While Darwin has since died, Jane and Gerty have taken over the task of sniffing for bees.
The TPWD has recruited Staab and her dogs for its Pollinators & Prairies program, which is designed to conserve the state's native prairie ecosystems. Finding bumblebee nests is the first step in studying and protecting them as part of the program.
The TPWD told the San Antonio Express-News that this collaboration will help count the populations "of several pollinator species of greatest conservation need in Texas to inform conservation planning efforts." These include American bumblebees and rare variable cuckoo bumblebees.
"These dogs give us and other collaborating scientists access to wild nests like we've never had before, allowing us to conduct groundbreaking research on these imperiled pollinators," Staab told the TPWD.
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