Recent ccber_posters items

California Stream Bioassessment Procedure of Phelps Creek, Tributary to Devereux Slough

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The California Stream Bioassessment Procedure is a standardized procedure used to measure the health of wadeable rivers. It helps identify point and non-point source pollutants based on physical, chemical, and biological properties, such as depth, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and benthic communities. In 2017, a restoration project began on the Devereux Slough in Goleta, Santa Barbara. This project reverted the upper arms of the estuary and its tributaries from their previous use as a golf course back into a natural slough. While the estuary itself has been more heavily monitored, the health of its tributaries has not been equally studied. Therefore, a bioassessment can indicate not only the health of these tributaries, in this case, Phelps Creek, but also the potential impacts on the downstream slough. The preliminary results illustrate that the river's health is marginal. The main sources of concern are the slow flow, high salinity, and lack of benthic diversity.

This...

Trophic Interactions Between Birds and Aquatic Prey at North Campus Open Space

Tue, 2 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Understanding trophic interactions helps reveal how energy and nutrients move through ecosystems and provides insight into the ecological effects of habitat restoration. This study examined potential feeding relationships between birds and aquatic prey at North Campus Open Space (NCOS), a restored wetland. I constructed two trophic networks representing bird interactions with aquatic prey: one for aquatic invertebrates and one for aquatic vertebrates. I based these networks on bird and prey species recorded in monitoring datasets at NCOS and compiled trophic links through a literature review of documented avian diets. Highly connected prey groups included Chironomidae (midges) and small fish, suggesting that these two prey groups may function as key shared resources for birds at NCOS. Although these networks represent potential rather than directly observed interactions, they provide insight into the structure of avian-aquatic food webs and support future restoration efforts...

Change in Avian Biodiversity after Restoration of North Campus Open Space

Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The restoration of the estuary and surrounding upland habitats of UCSB’s North Campus Open Space (NCOS) successfully reintroduced tidal flow and many plant communities to the site, facilitating faunal recovery. As in many other restoration projects, monitoring data has been collected and reported but lacks comprehensive analysis. Here, I leveraged eight years of monthly bird survey data to study how bird assemblages have changed, with a focus on the most consistently detected avian species. Moreover, to understand bird population trends and community composition shifts, I used Bayesian General Linear Mixed Models and Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling, respectively. The changes in these metrics provide insight into the effect of the NCOS restoration, evaluating its positive or negative results for individual species and their ecological functions.

This poster was presented at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Poster Colloquium on May 13, 2026.

Monitoring Invasion of the New Zealand Mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) in North Campus Open Space

Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS, Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a globally widespread aquatic invader tolerant of diverse environmental conditions. Since detection in the Snake River, ID, NZMS has spread to numerous watersheds across the western United States. eDNA sampling in 2022 detected the species in North Campus Open Space (NCOS), a coastal estuary under restoration in Goleta, CA; presence was later verified through hand sampling. This study examines local population dynamics to assess invasion status and spread within NCOS. I used data from quarterly benthic sweep-net sampling and water-quality measurements to assess species distribution and density across sites. NZMS occurred across a wide range of water-quality conditions. Spatial patterns suggest entry via freshwater inlets, with dense populations at Phelps Creek and sparse or absent populations elsewhere. Continued monitoring is needed to evaluate ecological impacts of NZMS invasion in NCOS.

This poster...

Systematics of California’s critically endangered Nipomo lupine (Lupinus nipomensis)

Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Lupinus nipomensis, the Nipomo lupine, is an endangered plant species faced with an alarming vulnerability to extinction from invasive species, habitat fragmentation, and variable abiotic factors. In Munz's 1963, The California Flora, Nipomo lupine was determined to be a divergent population of Bajada lupine (Lupinus concinnus), creating uncertainty about the species resolution to the present day, despite documented differences in habitat, geographic distribution, and morphology. Furthermore, the taxonomic ambiguity surrounding Nipomo lupine has hindered conservation efforts. Here, we provide phylogenetic evidence to demonstrate that Lupinus nipomensis is a clearly circumscribed species and separate lineage from other clades, particularly Lupinus concinnus.

Presented at the 2026 URCA Week Poster Colloquium, a platform for students from various disciplines to present their research findings and creative projects to the university...

Curation and Digitization of California Marine Sponges

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration recently obtained a series of sea sponge samples, including several new species, collected in Santa Barbara County by Dr. Thomas Turner (EEMB Faculty member). These sponges were curated and digitized. The specimens were accessioned into the Cheadle Center's Invertebrate Zoology Collection and their data was published on Ecdysis and made publicly available through Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). There are now over 140 sponges in the Cheadle Center's Collection. A publication for the Biodiversity Data Journal and an article for the Cheadle Center's Newsletter, which will make information about these sponges more accessible, are in progress. This poster was presented at the UCSB Undergraduate Research Colloquium 2026.

Public Perceptions and Knowledge of Aquatic Invertebrates in Devereux Slough

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Estuaries on the West Coast of the U.S. have experienced significant degradation, making the restoration of these areas increasingly more important. In 2017, a restoration initiative began in the North Campus Open Space, a part of Devereux Slough, that worked to restore a highly degraded wetland due to previously being filled in as a golf course. These areas are also open to the public for recreation and education, while also being an important habitat for wildlife. Aquatic invertebrates are among the many organisms that inhabit the area and are an important part of the ecosystem. However, the perceptions and knowledge of visitors on the existence and importance of aquatic invertebrates in these areas is unknown, despite their ecological importance. To examine this, an online survey was distributed. This study found visitors thought that aquatic invertebrates were important to estuary restoration and that visitors could most easily recognize nematodes by name and copepods...

Visualizing Waterbird-Aquatic Invertebrate Linkages in North Campus Open Space

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Faunal communities are increasingly recognized as indicators of wetland restoration progress, yet studies linking waterbirds and their aquatic invertebrate prey at the habitat scale is sparse. At UCSB, the Cheadle Center manages a large coastal wetland project - the North Campus Open Spaced (NCOS) - in which waterbird use is spatially uneven. This raises the question: how are bird assemblages using specific habitats related to the aquatic invertebrate prey available in those areas? Monthly waterbird survey data and quarterly aquatic invertebrate sampling were combined with known diet relationships from the literature to build trophic networks across four distinct habitat zones: the main Devereux Slough channel and mudflats, Phelps Creek confluence, constructed freshwater ponds, and seasonal vernal pools.

Results reveal differences in both trophic structure and species composition across all zones. The slough supports the greatest waterbird diversity at NCOS, and species...

Diets of Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) in a coastal southern California preserve

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Regionally threatened Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) rely on open habitats with suitable burrows and prey. Dangermond Preserve is potentially the best remaining example of this in Santa Barbara County, and understanding owl diets and their spatial variation can guide targeted habitat management to support owl populations. We expected Burrowing Owl diets at this preserve to have a lower proportion of invertebrate prey compared to previously documented diets at a smaller recently disturbed restoration site. We analyzed the contents of 25 intact owl pellets collected from mapped burrows and determined the minimum number of individual prey based on vertebrate and invertebrate remains. Results show earwigs; ground beetles; California voles; and grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets occurring in the majority of pellets, and proportions across the sites indicate less of a reliance on invertebrate prey in Dangermond than the smaller restoration site. With these diverse...

Temperature-Dependent Variation in Flight Muscle Morphology Revealed by Micro-CT Imaging

Fri, 8 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Bees are among the most diverse and ecologically important pollinators, but climate change is increasing temperature variability that may affect their physiology and performance. One structure likely sensitive to these changes is the flight muscle, which powers flight and supports foraging and pollination. However, the effects of developmental temperature on flight muscle morphology remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate how temperature influences flight muscle development in Bombus impatiens. Individuals were reared under three heat treatments simulating environmental temperature variation. High-resolution micro-CT imaging was used to visualize internal anatomy and quantify variation in flight muscle structure. Understanding how temperature affects flight muscle morphology provides insight into how climate change may influence bee physiology and pollination, and may inform future studies...

Using Micro-Computed Tomography to Study Larval Development in a Ground-Nesting Solitary Bee

Thu, 7 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Solitary bees represent over 80% of bee biodiversity and a substantial portion of pollinator diversity, yet many species remain overlooked and understudied compared with their social relatives. Most solitary bees nest in the ground and are difficult to rear in captivity, making them especially challenging to study. Here, we evaluate the use of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to track the growth and survival of solitary bee larvae encased in substrate, with the broader goal of understanding overwintering strategies in the ground-nesting bee Melissodes tepidus timberlaki (Apidae). Because these bees develop within enclosed brood cells, traditional observational approaches often require destruction of the cell, limiting repeated observations through time. Micro-CT offers a non-destructive technique that preserves brood cells and enables longitudinal observation of larval development in captivity. Using this method, we assess the feasibility of measuring larval position, body...

Exploring Optimizations in Anthophila Taxonomic Research Using Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Thu, 2 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Although taxonomists have access to a massive amount of intormation, accessing this data 1s a major hassle lor researchers and can be a barrier to entry for aspiring taxonomists. We created a chatbot for bee research that stores some of this information (provided by our advisors) and uses it to respond to user queries. Our approach was to implement a multimodal Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline, which matches user queries with relevant context in our bee data, returning answers based on related text chunks, along with mages. This method yielded great results, with our advisors evaluating the chatbot highly compared to other prominent Large Language Models (LLMs). We are hosting the model as a website locally, and plan publish it in coordination with our advisors after more rigorous evaluation of its performance. This poster was created as a product of the 24-25 UCSB PSTAT capstone (PSTAT 197).

Wing venation reflects phylogenetic divergence and allometric scaling in bees

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Wing venation characteristics are fundamental to taxonomic delimitation and classification in insect systematics, yet traditional approaches to analyzing these complex morphological traits are difficult and time-consuming. These challenges limit the pace and accessibility of research assessing insect biodiversity and the characterization of ecological morphotypes. Although bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) exhibit relatively conserved wing morphology, the variation between lineages remains poorly understood. In this study, we apply geometric morphometrics to investigate divergence in wing morphology for taxonomic identification and phylogenetic inference. Nine homologous landmarks plotted on wing vein intersections allow for the quantification and comparison of wing shape across 20 species and spanning 5 families. These landmarks have previously been shown to differentiate congeneric species and conspecific populations in prior exploratory studies.

Our results demonstrate...

Investigating the Climatic Factors that Influence the Activity of the Long Horned Bee Melissodes tepida timberlakei.

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Native solitary bees are pollinators that help maintain the health and biodiversity of California’s native plant communities. However, there is limited research on how their behavior responds to daily weather variability. Solitary bees differ from eusocial species in that they have a short seasonal activity period, typically 1-2 months, during which they must complete foraging and nest provisioning. This period can be disrupted by unfavorable weather, reducing foraging opportunities and reproductive output.

This study used the solitary ground-nesting bee, Melissodes tepida timberlakei, as a model to assess responses to daily weather variation. M. tepida is active from mid-May to early July. Climatic variables, including ground temperature, ambient temperature, humidity, and cloud cover, were tested to determine their influence on foraging activity.

Field observations were conducted over 10 days at the UC Santa Barbara Campus Lagoon, recording bee nest emergence...

Polymorphism as a precursor to speciation in a California endemic salamander

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The salamander species Batrachoseps stebbinsi is an underrepresented subject in morphological studies. Authors have noted morphological differences and genetic divergence between northern and southern populations. This has led to speculation as to whether or not the northern and southern populations are separate species due to their observed morphological differences and the apparent gap in their distribution. To date, no formal analysis of range-wide morphological data has been published. This study aims to quantify the morphology and shape differences (body and limb proportions) between northern and southern populations of B. stebbinsi. The role of sexual dimorphism and size at maturity will be included in the analysis. Whether selection is driving the observed variation in color and shape differences is not yet known. Statistical difference was found between populations.

This poster has been presented at the 20205 Amphibian Task...

Exploring Optimizations in Anthophila Taxonomic Research Using Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Thu, 5 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Although taxonomists have access to a massive amount of information, accessing this data is a major hassle for researchers and can be a barrier to entry for aspiring taxonomists. We created a chatbot for bee research that stores some of this information (provided by our advisors) and uses it to respond to user queries. Our approach was to implement a multimodal Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline, which matches user queries with relevant context in our bee data, returning answers based on related text chunks, along with images. This method yielded great results, with our advisors evaluating the chatbot highly compared to other prominent Large Language Models (LLMs). We are hosting the model as a website locally, and plan publish it in coordination with our advisors after more rigorous evaluation of its performance. This poster was presented at the UCSB Data Science Initiative Capstone Project Showcase in 2025

Analyzing Bee Body Size as a Potential Factor of the Island Rule

Wed, 4 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Variance in body size of bees can affect multiple factors including pollination ability, floral handling, and response to evolving environmental conditions. Likewise, body size itself is influenced by a range of climate and location-specific environmental factors. Islands represent distinct habitats with unique ecological and climate conditions. Many animals differ drastically in body size in island habitats, but the extent to which this effect occurs in insects is unknown. This phenomenon is known as the “island rule” in which animals are considerably larger on islands when compared to their mainland counterparts. Recognizing these patterns enhances our understanding of how differing environmental conditions between islands and mainlands can drive long-term evolutionary changes in species. I measured body size for each specimen, accounting for sex and missing body parts. In this study, we drew data from the sweat bee, agapostemon subtilior, and measured their body size by...

Undergraduates in Natural History Collections: Educational Opportunities and Needs

Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The University of California, Santa Barbara’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration is distinctive in its dual mission of ecological restoration and natural history collection curation. The Center offers an experiential undergraduate course called Introduction to Curation of Natural History Collections, which provides hands-on learning activities in the Cheadle Center’s invertebrate, vertebrate, and vascular plant collections. Each quarter, the class alternates between professors and collections, and students can take it multiple times, allowing them to gain experience in different collections from professors with different backgrounds. Undergraduate students are fundamental to supporting the Cheadle Center’s mission of restoration and conservation through the curation class as well as successive opportunities. After completing the course, students can apply for competitive curatorial internships that provide experience in menteeship. This opportunity teaches...

Evaluating Sheep Grazing as a Strategy for Restoring the North Campus Open Space (NCOS) Grasslands

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000
The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (Cheadle Center) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) restores North Campus Open Space (NCOS), an area previously converted from wetlands and uplands to a golf course. Invasive plants are a persistent problem on site and must be managed using restoration techniques, but localized methods like hand or flame weeding can be time and resource intensive. Short-term rotational sheep grazing was utilized to reduce thatch and invasive species seed banks and biomass to encourage native species growth in the spring. To investigate immediate impacts of grazing on the abundance of key species and assess the efficacy of the sheep grazing regime in reducing thatch and invasive species biomass, pre-grazing and post-grazing biomass samples were collected and compared. The seed viability of key species was also evaluated by collecting sheep pellets, spreading them over soil-covered flats, and observing...

Macroinvertebrate Responses to Dissolved Oxygen and Salinity in Devereux Slough

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Macroinvertebrates play a key role in aquatic ecosystems as indicators due to their sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions. Regular macroinvertebrate sampling is conducted in the Deveroux slough at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to monitor species abundance and diversity and assess the ecological health of the system. We examined how salinity and dissolved oxygen (D.O.) influenced the abundance and diversity of four macroinvertebrate species: Amphipods, Diptera Chirominid, Ostracods, and Copepods. We predict a higher abundance of invertebrates when salinity levels are low and D.O. levels are high. Samples were taken across sixteen (16) different sites at Deveroux Slough. Filter beakers and mesh sweep dipnets were used to collect samples, with algae and core samples taken by CCBER. Data was transferred to an Excel spreadsheet, and R Studio was used for data analysis. Amphipods and Chironomids were most abundant at low-salinity, moderate D.O sites,...

Flying on Broken Wings: Wing Wear Analysis Between Mid-Size Santa Barbara Specialist and Generalist Bee Species Using a Computer Vision Model

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000
Bee wings experience mechanical stress and collisions over time through an accumulation of flying, foraging, mating, and predator attack events. As such, wing wear has been used as a measure for relative age in bees and has also been found to be related to an increased risk of mortality. This relationship allows wing wear to be used as an indicator for bee health of individual bees and of their respective colonies. Little is known about how additional factors–like size, sex, and diet breadth– contribute to wing wear in bees. The aim of this study is to investigate the variation in wing wear between mid-size Santa Barbara county specialist and generalist bees using two techniques: manual scoring and a computer vision model. This program is an image segmentation model that uses shape analysis data to assign a wing wear score from photographs. The study will also assess the accuracy of these computer generated scores relative to manual scoring and the reliability of these scores...

A Phylogenetic Analysis of Hybanthus: Reclassifying Hybanthus concolor (Green Violet)

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000
The genus Hybanthus of the Violet Family (Violaceae) is non-monophyletic, meaning that not all species of Hybanthus share a most recent common ancestor. Previous phylogenetic analysis in the Violet Family suggested that Hybanthus concolor from eastern North America was resolved as a sister taxon to a clade of two Hybanthus species from the Caribbean region (Wahlert et al., 2014). The two clades display distinct differences in morphology, climate, and geographic distribution. In this project, we conducted expanded DNA sequencing of North American and Caribbean Hybanthus species to test the hypothesis that these two groups represent distinct evolutionary genera.

Machine Learning to Aid Pollinator Monitoring of Endangered Plants

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Rare plants are often dependent on pollinators to maintain their populations. In some cases, the pollinators themselves are of high conservation value, resulting in a system that has inherently high value for conservation. The North Campus Open Space (NCOS) at UCSB is home to such a system, where the Federally Endangered Salt Marsh Bird’s Beak (Chloropyron maritimum) is pollinated by recently listed Crotch’s Bumblebee (Bombus crotchii) along with other bumblebee, and insect species.
Monitoring pollination events is time-consuming, and researchers are looking to automated cameras to capture images of pollination events and machine learning to help extract pollinator identifications from the captured images.
Presented at the URCA Poster Colloquium 5/14/2025

To Bee or Not to Bee Hairy: A Quantitative Analysis of Pilosity Across Melissodes tepidus Subspecies

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000
Although California native bees are key pollinators for fruits and crops, they remain understudied compared to the Western honey bee. Examining morphological traits in native bees, such as pilosity, or hairiness, to understand taxonomic variation among species can inform and support conservation efforts. Three subspecies of long-horned bees, Melissodes tepidus timberlakei, M. tepidus yumensis, and M. tepidus tepida, occupy distinct regions across the western United States (e.g., California, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona), but their morphological distinctions remain unclear. Pilosity, or hairiness, is a critical trait for thermoregulation, pollen collection, and species recognition, and may offer key insights into subspecies differentiation. I hypothesize that the three Melissodes tepidus subspecies differ significantly in pilosity coverage and lightness as adaptations to their unique ecological niches and climates. To test this hypothesis, I captured,...

Body Size-Mediated Wing Wear: Analyzing Wing Damage in Native Bee Species Using Image Segmentation Model

Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Damage to bee wings commonly occurs during ecologically-essential foraging and flight activities of bees. Interactions and collisions with native environmental conditions such as wind and vegetation leave wings exposed to potential wear and tear. Morphological traits influence bee flight performance, as bees with larger body sizes demonstrate increased flight distance capacity and foraging range. We analyze the degree of wing wear as an indicator of these activities, predicting that larger bees will accumulate more wing damage from extended exposure to environmental wear. We imaged wings across bee species native to Santa Barbara County. By manually creating masks to isolate the wing, we trained a computer vision model with ground-truth data to identify pixels in wing images and separate them from the background. This image segmentation model allows for shape analysis and comparison of degree of wear in the wing’s margin across various species through this large-scale collection...

Applying geometric morphometrics to assess phenotypic variation in bees

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Species-level identification of insects is often difficult and can limit ecological studies, particularly those assessing insect biodiversity. Wing venation characteristics are fundamental for defining and classifying insects. Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) have relatively conserved wing characteristics at the family, genus, and species level, but the patterns between groups remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed geometric morphometrics to assess variation in wing venation across bees taxa. Geometric morphometrics allows for detailed shape analysis of wing structure, which may provide insights into evolutionary relationships. By digitally landmarking nine homologous wing vein characters of a diverse sample of bees, we quantified and compared phenotypic variation across several recognized species, genera, and families in order to assess whether the resulting morphological clusters reflect evolutionary divergence. Preliminary results demonstrate the ability to differentiate...

Utilizing Surface Area to Volume ratios and Thermal Tolerance of Various Bee Species to Predict their Performance under Rising Global Temperatures

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this research project is to investigate how rising temperatures, for instance climate change, can affect bees of various body sizes given their essential role in the global food supply through pollination of agricultural crops. To achieve this I utilized 3D imaging and 3D modeling techniques to calculate surface area-to-volume (SA/V) ratios of the bees that otherwise cannot be obtained using conventional methods. SA/V ratios were calculated for 4 different families (Halictidae, Colletidae, Apidae, and Megachilidae) in the order Hymenoptera and were analyzed alongside the bee’s Critical Thermal Maximum (CT Max) data, the maximum heat a bee can withstand before losing mobility, to gain insight on the bee's ability to survive in extreme hot temperatures. It is evident from the data that larger bees, characterized by smaller SA/V ratios, presented a higher CT Max suggesting their greater chance of survival in higher temperatures than smaller bees due to less heat...

Variation in Bee Body Size Due to Anthropogenic Land Use

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates the impact of anthropogenic land use on the body size of bees across 18 different species. Adult bee body size, primarily influenced by developmental nutrition, is significantly affected by the availability of floral resources. Developed land often has reduced floral diversity and density is hypothesized to produce smaller bees due to limited food resources. Specimens from the UCSB Invertebrate Zoology Collection were categorized based on their collection sites into three land use types: developed, agricultural, and forest using USGS National Land Cover Database. Measurements of head width, intertegular distance (ITD), and dry mass were taken to assess body size. A body size index was calculated as the average of these measurements. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were done in Python version 3.12.4. Results indicate that bees from agricultural habitats are significantly larger than those from developed and forest habitats across all metrics (head width,...

Identifying the Impact of Body Measurements on Dry Weight Across and Within Bee Species

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000
Bee body size affects their ability to forage, carry pollen, and adapt to environmental conditions. Body size is influenced by environmental factors such as food availability and temperature. As these conditions continue to change, it is crucial to accurately measure body size and determine whether particular body measurements can predict size variation across and within species. Measuring body size is challenging as bees are often small and may be missing body parts. In this study, we examined ten different bee species across three different families. We compared body and wing measurements as proxies for dry weight for both damaged and non-damaged bees. We used fitted vs. residuals and QQ plots to test for normality and linearity, along with performing simple linear regression using R version 4.4.0. We determined that intertegular distance (ITD) and head width to be the most significant predictors of dry weight across species and within most species, suggesting that these measurements...

Bee Species Identification: Improving Population Monitoring Techniques

Mon, 3 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This project aims to mitigate the critical decline in bee populations, essential for crop pollination and food security. With a shortage of taxonomic specialists to identify the vast array of bee species, the project's goal is to enhance the monitoring of population changes through an automated classification system. Utilizing a dataset of bee wing images, the project aims to develop a computational pipeline to identify species based on their unique wing vein patterns. This approach not only supports bee conservation efforts but also expands our understanding of complex geometric variations in nature, offering wider applications in biological research.
This poster was presented at the UCSB Data Science Capstone showcase in 2024.

Striped Ambiguity: A Quantitative Approach Towards Understanding Camouflage Using Computer Vision

Wed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000
This research examines the effect of disruptive camouflage by studying the coloration of bees. Using the OpenCV and scikit-learn libraries in Python and incorporating the image theory, I developed a procedure that quantifies and analyzes the visual hotspots on bees, which is mainly applied to identify camouflage effects of different abdominal colors, namely, black and white stripes, black and yellow stripes, and iridescent hues. Patterns that contribute to disruptive camouflage are highlighted by K-mean clustering method. Through the application of the CV methods, we may obtain a quantitative perspective when assessing the qualitative coloration of the bees. Based on image theory-driven clustering, our method provides a foundation that could be extended to further hypothesize the camouflage functionality of coloration patterns.This poster was presented at the UCSB Undergraduate Research Colloquium in 2024.

Beetles Around North Campus Open Space - A Cheadle Center Coverboard Chronicle

Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

North Campus Open Space (NCOS) is a large-scale restored habitat in the historic Devereaux slough in Goleta, California. Forty-four plywood cover boards measuring 3’ x 4’ were dispersed across NCOS in four distinct habitats (grassland, woodland, coast sage scrubland, and marshland). For over 4 years, researchers have tracked the presence of animals under these coverboards, mostly small rodents and herpetofauna, following the area’s habitat restoration. Patterns of their distribution are increasingly understood as surveys continue; however, little is known about the patterns of invertebrate distribution and the factors influencing them. Invertebrates provide essential ecosystem functions as they break down organic matter, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem, and they can serve as insightful bioindicators of ecosystem health. Previous studies documented that in agricultural systems, mean annual precipitation and soil pH are the largest predictors of soil invertebrate...

California Rapid Assessment Method: Using vernal pool CRAM to evaluate past restoration success & prioritize future restoration goals

Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the California Invasive Plant Council 2023 Symposium, the Merced Vernal Pool and Grassland Reserve 10th Anniversary Symposium, and the 2024 California Society for Ecological Restoration conference.
The California Rapid Assessment Method (CRAM) is a level 2 landscape quality surveying method. Wetlands are rated on their buffer/landscape context, hydrology, physical structure, and biotic structure. Certified practitioners are trained and calibrated such that CRAM scores are standardized throughout the state. This allows for state-wide comparisons and analysis of wetlands across sites, projects, and managers. Here, we present comparisons of CRAM scores for natural and restored vernal pool wetlands across the state. This allows us to assess how restoration projects compare to natural ecosystems, and also allows us to target specific regions or landscape metrics for future restoration.

Applying geometric morphometrics to assess phenotypic variation in bees

Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Species-level identification of insects is often difficult and can limit ecological studies, particularly those assessing insect biodiversity. Wing venation characteristics are fundamental for defining and classifying insects. Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) have relatively conserved wing characteristics at the family, genus, and species level, but the patterns between groups remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed geometric morphometrics to assess variation in wing venation across bees taxa. Geometric morphometrics allows for detailed shape analysis of wing structure, which may provide insights into evolutionary relationships. By digitally landmarking nine homologous wing vein characters of a diverse sample of bees, we quantified and compared phenotypic variation across several recognized species, genera, and families in order to assess whether the resulting morphological clusters reflect evolutionary divergence. Preliminary results demonstrate the ability to differentiate...

Divergence Date Estimation & Paleobiogeography of the Salamander Subgenus Plethopsis

Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The disparate global range of Plethodontid salamanders in the Batrachoseps subgenus Plethopsis is unique, and implicates perplexing historical biogeographic scenarios. Using uncorrelated relaxed molecular clock methods and fossil-calibrated divergence estimates from Shen et al. (2016), we present a time-scaled phylogeny for the genus Batrachoseps in order to test hypotheses concerning the diversification of the subgenus Plethopsis. Our estimated divergence time intervals detract support from a hypothesis that Batrachoseps robustus diverged as the flow of the Owens river changed course at ca. 3.2 Ma, as evidenced by sediment deposits at Searles Lake (Phillips, 2008). Instead, our estimates support that diversification of the known Plethopsis species began earlier, in the late Miocene to early Pliocene, as extensional activity formed the proto-Owens Valley and led to ensuing hydrological...

Physiological Traits as Predictors of Climate Resistance and Sociality in Female Carpenter Bees

Fri, 10 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Understanding the relationship between physiological factors on social behavior in bees is critical to understanding their ecological dynamics. This study investigates the relationship between body mass, ovary size, Dufour’s gland size, and chill coma recovery time in female Xylocopa tabaniformis bees. Analyses reveal a significant predictive relationship between bee body mass and both ovariole length and Dufour’s gland length. Body mass does not emerge as a significant predictor of CCRT, suggesting other factors as better predictors for thermal tolerance. Conflicting conclusions arise regarding CCRT as a function of physical trauma or age, emphasizing a need for further investigation. Future research should expand the scope of species studied, and the timing of the study to include pre-reproductive female bees. The findings of this study provide insight into the physiological underpinnings of bee sociality and highlight the complexity of bee ecological dynamics.
This...

Analysis of Algae and Aquatic Vegetation Abundance at the Devereux Slough

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the 2024 UCSB EEMB Research symposium.
This project investigates how water quality metrics correlate with seasonal changes in algal and aquatic vegetation abundance via close-range and satellite imagery analysis at the Devereux Slough. The Devereux Slough, part of UCSB’s North Campus Open Space (NCOS), is a temporary open/closed estuary undergoing restoration efforts following its previous use as a golf course. The Devereux Slough provides buffer area for storm surges and sea level rise, and it functions as a wildlife corridor linking protected lands. The Aquatic Invertebrate Lab at the NCOS evaluates wetland function in terms of nutrient filtering and support for wildlife. We analyze the effects of restoration on the ecosystem, abiotic factors on aquatic food webs, and the relationship between nutrient pulses and algal blooms. We deployed camera stands at bridges across NCOS to research algal growth through photography where Coastsnap is...

Shedding Light on Campus: Improving Student Safety and Energy Efficiency through Light Pollution Analysis

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the 2024 UCSB EEMB Research symposium.
It has been well studied that light pollution significantly impacts humans and wildlife. When light is in excess, humans are negatively affected through reduced safety from light glare, disrupted circadian rhythms, and decreased exposure to the night sky. We studied UCSB’s residential areas to determine if these were issues on campus. This research was conducted through community engagement surveys about problematic lights and field visits to measure light intensity and color. We found a consensus among respondents that particularly bright or cold colored lights regularly affect respondent’s ability to sleep and thus their academic performance. Surveys were promoted through 10 versions of attention-grabbing info flyers posted around campus, displayed on digital screens in residential lobbies, and sent out through residential email list servers to make our resources available in numerous forms with...

Algae, Macroinvertebrates, and Water Quality Relationships at North Campus Open Space

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the 2024 UCSB EEMB Research symposium.
Algae plays a crucial role in aquatic ecosystems, serving as both a primary producer through photosynthesis and a food source and habitat for macroinvertebrates, which in turn supports larger organisms. The abundance and composition of algae and macroinvertebrates are influenced by environmental factors such as salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.
This ongoing study investigates the dynamics of a temporary open-closed estuary in the North Campus Open Space Devereux Slough. Monthly water quality data and algae samples are collected from three sites to assess the types of algae present and variations in macroinvertebrate abundance. Preliminary findings reveal several genera of algae, including but not limited to Tribomena, Phormidium, Ulva, and Oscillatoria. Tribomena exhibits the highest abundance of macroinvertebrates and species diversity.
These findings have enabled a more...

Aquatic Invertebrate Assessment at the North Campus Open Space

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the 2024 UCSB EEMB Research symposium.
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are critical indicators of ecological health because of their role as primary consumers, supporting many species within their respective food chains. Birds, as key components of wetland ecosystems, heavily rely on these aquatic macroinvertebrates as a food source. Understanding the dynamics between aquatic macroinvertebrates and environmental factors is crucial for effective ecosystem management efforts. This study compares surface sampling data and benthic dipnetting sampling data across multiple sites within North Campus Open Space (NCOS) from the summer of 2023 to the spring of 2024.
Our research aims to determine the species abundance and diversity of key aquatic invertebrates and zooplankton using the Shannon–Wiener diversity index. By utilizing two distinct sampling methods, we investigate the effectiveness of the sampling techniques through potential variations...

Assessing seed predation to inform the conservation and recovery of the critically endangered Nipomo Mesa Lupine, Lupinus nipomensis

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the UCSB EEMB research symposium in 2024.
Seed predation by granivores limits plant survival and recruitment of new germinates, especially of rare species limited by small populations and increasing pressure from nonnative invasives. The relationship between granivores and native flora at the Dune Protected Area in Callandar, CA is currently shifting away from historic patterns; Nipomo mesa lupine (L. nipomensis) and other dune stabilizing plant species have been impacted by the habitat-wide colonization by the invasive perennial veldt grass (Ehrharta calycina). Current veldt management practices prevent the use of herbicide to control the grass within a 15-foot buffer of extant lupine populations. Understanding how dense stands of veldt grass may support increased populations of L. nipomensis seed predators can inform the management of veldt grass and the recovery of the endangered lupine. This study assessed seed predation through...

Applying geometric morphometrics to assess phenotypic variation in bees

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Wing venation characteristics are fundamental for defining and classifying insects. In bees these characteristics are relatively conserved, but the patterns between groups remain poorly understood. We employed geometric morphometrics to assess variation in wing venation across bees taxa. Geometric morphometrics allows for detailed shape analysis of wing structure, which may provide insights into evolutionary relationships. By digitally landmarking homologous wing vein characters of a diverse sample of bees, we quantified and compared phenotypic variation in order to assess whether the resulting morphological clusters reflect evolutionary divergence and align with established phylogeny. This study assesses the potential of geometric morphometrics to infer the phylogenetic placement of indeterminate bee species based solely on wing vein patterns and provides an effective pathway for species identification.
Presented at the UCSB EEMB Undergraduate Research Symposium 2024

Algae, Macroinvertebrate and Water Quality Relationships at North Campus Open Space

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000
Algae and macroinvertebrate communities respond to the dissolved oxygen and salinity levels of the water. Dissolved oxygen is required by the macroinvertebrates for respiration. Salinity impacts the algae because every algae has a specific salinity range that they are able to survive in. THis research was presented at the UCSB 2023 EEMB research symposium and at the UCSB 2023 URCA symposium.

Assessing Aquatic Invertebrate Establishment in a Restored Wetland Over Time

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are often used as bioindicators of water and ecosystem quality due to their sensitivity to pollution. For these reasons, the Santa Barbara Audubon Society developed a Citizen Science program in collaboration with UCSB to collect long-term data on aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages and water quality in order to understand the changing health of the slough. THis poster was presented at the UCSB 2023 EEMB Research Symposium.

Effect of Soil Type on Endangered Arenaria paludicola Growth

Fri, 5 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000
Arenaria paludicola is a critically endangered California wetland plant. Only one original population exists at Oso Flaco Lake in San Luis Obispo County, in additionto some out plantings that have been established. Current knowledge of the idealhabitat and conditions for Arenaria paludicola is limited, making it difficult to identify sites that would be ideal for new out plantings to preserve the species.This study investigates the ability of Arenaria paludicola to grow in five soil types to evaluate the viability of a natural seep site located on UC Santa Barbara’scampus as a location for planting a new population. In addition, the seep waterwas used on two replicates of the experiment to determine if the water itself issuitable for Arenaria paludicola. The soils that showed the most growth over the course of the study were coarse commercial sand mixed with compost andpotting mix, with the campus loam showing no growth, and the heavy clay andfine sand soils native to the site...

Utilizing Surface Area to Volume ratios and Thermal Tolerance of Various Bee Species to Predict their Performance under Rising Global Temperatures

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000
The purpose of this research project is to investigate how rising temperatures, for instance climate change, can affect bees of various body sizes given their essential role in the global food supply through pollination of agricultural crops. To achieve this I utilized 3D imaging and 3D modeling techniques to calculate surface area-to-volume (SA/V) ratios of the bees that otherwise cannot be obtained using conventional methods. SA/V ratios were calculated for 4 different families (Halictidae, Colletidae, Apidae, and Megachilidae) in the order Hymenoptera and were analyzed alongside the bee’s Critical Thermal Maximum (CT Max) data, the maximum heat a bee can withstand before losing mobility, to gain insight on the bee's ability to survive in extreme hot temperatures. It is evident from the data that larger bees, characterized by smaller SA/V ratios, presented a higher CT Max suggesting their greater chance of survival in higher temperatures than smaller bees due to less heat exchange...

Exploring Pilosity in the California Native Bee Melissodes tepidus timberlakei as an Indicator of Age and Implications for Pollinator Response to Climate Change

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000
Pollinators are crucial to agriculture and natural ecosystems. As such, it is important to consider how they may be affected by current and future changes in climate. In this study, we focus on the pilosity, or hairiness, of the long-horned bee Melissodes tepidus timberlakei Cockerell, 1929 and how that may inform us on how this species tolerates colder temperatures, and whether pilosity can inform us of body size and age. We hypothesized that (1) Hairier bees are more tolerant to cold temperature (2) hairier bees are heavier (3) younger bees are hairier than older bees (4) bees collected earlier in the year are hairier. Presented at UC Santa Barbara CSEP Summer Research Symposium August 15th, 2023.

The Big Bee Project: Advancing Research Through 3D Bee Modeling

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000
Massive declines of bee populations around the world are a growing concern. There is limited information on how physical traits of bees hinder or support their declining populations. Photogrammetry proves to be a viable option for creating accurate models of bees which can then be measured and investigated. Certain conditions optimize the 3D modeling process and lead to more accurate models.

Big-Bee: Towards a More Accurate Hair Quantification Pipeline

Wed, 17 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Bees are important pollinators responsible for creating and maintaining the ecosystems that many animals and humans rely on. With many of its species on the decline, the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration is leading the Big-Bee Project Network (http://big-bee.net) in an effort to digitize bee traits for further research in bee ecology. Since researchers lack data on anatomical traits that may make bees either vulnerable or resilient to human-induced environmental changes, it is important to find new methods for efficiently collecting these data.
One bee trait identified to prioritize was a bee’s hairiness because they’re important for pollination, sensing nearby danger, and staying warm in cooler temperatures and cooler in hotter climates. Through the use of deep learning and computer vision, a new pipeline was created to measure the surface density of hair from bee images. By optimizing two pre-trained U-Nets on lateral-view images of bees, the...

Herbaria and Film Photography: Curating Real and Imagined Plant Communities

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This poster was presented at the California Botanical Society 29th Graduate Student Symposium at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, CA on April 1, 2023.
Summary: Observation, collection, curation, and archiving are central to ecological understanding and artistic process. Biodiversity data portals are repositories that can be used for a diversity of scientific and artistic applications. Digitization of historical collections increases accessibility and expands the range of potential hypothesis-driven research.

Aquatic Invertebrate Monitoring at Devereux Slough

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000
Aquatic invertebrates are often used as indicator species for water quality. Aquatic invertebrates were collected and identified at a protected reserve for 30+ years and at a newly restored site, previously developed as a golf course. Dissolved oxygen and salinity measurements were also taken. Results show that salinity has a stronger influence on species communities than restored state.

Reptiles and Restoration: Coverboard Monitoring before and after Wetland Reconstruction

Fri, 5 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000
In 2017, UC Santa Barbara’s North Campus Open Space (NCOS) Ecological Restoration Project began major excavation on a golf course to convert it back into the upper arms of a slough and coastal mesa which historically existed in the area. Before restoration began, twenty-six coverboards were monitored between 2012 and 2014 to assess terrestrial populations of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. In 2020, forty-four plywood coverboards with a uniform area (1526 in²) were deployed across various planting and restoration regimes on these 300 acres of recently restored open space. Boards are monitored weekly by a student research intern, who records vertebrate species abundance and invertebrate species presence at each site. So far, species richness and composition of herpetological inhabitants remained the same before and after restoration (six reptile and two amphibian species). However, encounter rates (our proxy for abundance), have changed for some species following...

Enviromental Trends in the Distribution of California Bee Species

Wed, 6 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The distribution of bees can be estimated, in part, by enviromental variables associated with geography. Using bee occurrence records, we quantified the estimated species richness of the EPA level 3 defined ecoregions using coverage-based rarefaction. Our study reveals that bee species richness is highest in ecoregions with warm dry summers. Furthermore, increased species richness was found to be correlated with maximum mean temperature.
Presented at the iDigBio 6th Annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference on 05/24/2022 and the University of California Santa Barbara EEMB Undergraduate Research Symposium on 04/23/2022

Big Bee: Hair Recognition and Quantification

Thu, 2 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) is working with the UCSB Data Science capstone team to continue the research and understanding of bee ecology through image and trait digitalization.
In efforts to help researchers involved in the Big-Bee project, we want to automate the process it takes to handle and process the digital images of bees. Given images of bees with a QR/Datamatrix code, we sought to develop scripts that can rename the image files based on the decoded box and extract EXIF metadata. In the latter half of our project, we shift our focus toward the hairy characteristics of bees. Given data of high definition lateral bee images, we want to create models that can quantify how hairy a bee is.
Results
Two scripts, the QR Code Scanner & MetaData Extractors, are published on GitHub and are currently used by two academic institutions. More trial testing is required to discover bugs...

Body Size and Taxonomic Influence on Bee Wing Vein Density

Fri, 20 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000
All winged insects have wing veins that form unique patterns. A strong correlation between wing size and body size has been established in the insect order Hymenoptera, including bees. Vein pattern in bees is also an important trait for identification at the genus level. However, how this pattern relates to the density of veins observed in the wing has not previously been studied and the overall relationship between wing vein number and body size has not been evaluated in bees in the absence of other hymenopteran taxa. Bee forewing vein density as it relates to body size and taxonomic group was investigated. Using dorsal and slide-plated wing images, wing vein density and intertegular span were measured for bee species within different genera and families. The study found that both taxonomic level and body size influence wing vein density, of which the taxonomic level of genus has the most significant effect, regardless of body size. This poster was presented at the UC Santa Barbara...

Variation of Ocelli Size Between Male and Female Bees in Species of Different Sociality

Wed, 11 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000
Bees are important pollinators. However, their numbers and diversity are in decline which poses a serious threat to plant pollination and affects food production. The Big-Bee project (http://big-bee.net) launched in 2021 to research bee ecology and taxonomy through the digitalization of bee specimens. Bees’ ocelli are important navigational organs that receive and evaluate light intensities. The project aims at exploring the impact of bees’ sociality on potential variation in ocelli morphology. By measuring median ocellar width between sexes, I firstly tested whether sexual size dimorphism occurs in ocelli between sexes in the same bee species. Then, I evaluated whether the sexual size dimorphism exists based on social versus solitary bees. The results indicated the existence of a different median ocellar size between males and females within one species. However, such existence does not occur in males and females based on sociality categorization, indicating the sociality might...

Identifying island-mainland bee populations with wings

Wed, 5 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000
Wing venation can be used to accurately identify bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) to species. Wing venation patterns alone, captured by geometric morphometrics, may also be sufficient to classify variation between populations of the same species. An application of this method is presented here with bees in the genus Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Specimens were collected from Santa Cruz Island and Santa Barbara, California. The Pacific Ocean provides a physical barrier between mainland and island populations. To analyze wing venation patterns, forewings were removed, slide mounted, imaged, and annotated with digital landmarks using TPS morphometric software for approximately 360 specimens and 9 landmarks. Data collection for this project was conducted remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic with inexpensive equipment. Results show 100% accurate discrimination of three Halictus species and less accurate discrimination of two populations of one species, H....

Digitization of the UCSB Herbarium's Seaweed Collection Provides Vital Data to Better Understand the Changing Marine Environment. (2nd Quarter)

Wed, 5 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000
The macroalgae collection of the UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) Herbarium has been utilized as a resource by students and researchers at UCSB. In order to increase the scientific value of the collection, we have initiated a digitization project to add to a growing data set being assembled by a consortium of seaweed herbaria. Collectively, these data can be used to address questions of changing climate, ocean currents, invasive species, and biodiversity along the Pacific Coast of North America. Our IMLS-funded digitization project is focused on digitizing ca. 10,000 specimens in our Pacific Coast of North America collection. Our digital data are currently available on two Symbiota-based web portals: The Consortium of California Herbaria 2 and the Macroalgal Herbarium Portal. Our data are also aggregated and shared worldwide through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Our digitization project is not only creating high-quality public data, but also is providing ample opportunities...

Digitization of the UCSB Herbarium's Seaweed Collection Provides Vital Data to Better Understand the Changing Marine Environment

Wed, 5 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000
The macroalgae collection of the UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) Herbarium has been utilized as a resource by students and researchers at UCSB. In order to increase the scientific value of the collection, we have initiated a digitization project to add to a growing data set being assembled by a consortium of seaweed herbaria. Collectively, these data can be used to address questions of changing climate, ocean currents, invasive species, and biodiversity along the Pacific Coast of North America. Our IMLS-funded digitization project is focused on digitizing ca. 10,000 specimens in our Pacific Coast of North America collection. Our digital data are currently available on two Symbiota-based web portals: The Consortium of California Herbaria 2 and the Macroalgal Herbarium Portal. Our data are also aggregated and shared worldwide through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Our digitization project is not only creating high-quality public data, but also is providing ample opportunities...

Big-Bee: Una iniciativa para promover el conocimiento de las abejas a través de la digitalización de imágenes y datos de rasgos. ID 112.

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000
Las abejas son fundamentales para nuestra seguridad alimentaria y la polinización de las plantas silvestres y cultivadas. Sin embargo, algunas poblaciones y especies están en riesgo de desaparecer. Nuestro conocimiento de los factores que causan estas disminuciones es limitado, en parte porque carecemos de datos suficientes sobre la distribución de las especies que nos sirvan para predecir cambios en su rango geográfico bajo escenarios de cambio climático. Además, carecemos de datos adecuados sobre las características morfológicas y comportamentales que podrían influir en la vulnerabilidad de las abejas a los cambios ambientales inducidos por el hombre, como la pérdida de hábitat y el cambio climático. Afortunadamente, se puede extraer una gran cantidad de información a partir de los especímenes depositados en colecciones entomológicas. Acá presentamos este proyecto, el cual incluye 13 instituciones y es financiado por la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias de los...

Announcing Big-Bee: An initiative to promote understanding of bees through image and trait digitization.

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

While bees are critical to sustaining a large proportion of global food production, as well as pollinating both wild and cultivated plants, they are decreasing in both numbers and diversity. Our understanding of the factors driving these declines is limited, in part, because we lack sufficient data on the distribution of bee species to predict changes in their geographic range under climate change scenarios. Additionally lacking is adequate data on the behavioral and anatomical traits that may make bees either vulnerable or resilient to human-induced environmental changes, such as habitat loss and climate change. Fortunately, a wealth of associated attributes can be extracted from the specimens deposited in natural history collections for over 100 years.
Extending Anthophila Research Through Image and Trait Digitization (Big-Bee) is a newly funded US National Science Foundation Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections project. Over the course of...

Variation between Santa Cruz Island and mainland bee specimens

Wed, 8 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) have unique wing venation, which can be used to classify variation between populations of the same species using geometric morphometrics. Here, an application of this method is presented, showing successful distinction between populations of the sweat bee Halictus tripartitus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) from either island or mainland collections. These two locations are Santa Cruz Island, a 35-kilometer long island about 32 kilometers off the coast of Santa Barbara in the Pacific Ocean, and Santa Barbara, California, a coastal mainland town.
To analyze wing patterns, forewings were removed, imaged, and annotated with digital landmarks using TPS morphometric software for 9 landmarks. Significant difference between populations is shown with an ANOSIM test (p<0.05), and principal component analysis results are visualized on a biplot. Ongoing work includes adding additional specimens and running new tests, including non-metric...

Leveraging Large Biological Interaction Data to Quantify Plant Specialization by Bees

Mon, 2 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Large, open-access biological datasets, like those hosted by Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI), have become increasingly accessible due to greater data collection, compilation, and storage. These databases serve to better inform our understanding of species occurrences, interactions, and ecosystem structure, broadly. In this work, we leverage GloBI data to better understand patterns of pollination, a biologically and economically essential biotic interaction between plants and pollinators. Specifically, we sought to develop a better understanding of bee specialization of pollen, an evolutionary trait in bees that underscores the stability and structure of pollinator interaction networks. We compared GloBI and expert-compiled data to better understand patterns in resource specialization.
Through our exploration of GloBI, we found several sources of bias, including the limitations of community data collection and scarcity of rare bees. We found a strong positive correlation...

Island-mainland variation in bees: Applying geometric morphometrics to wing venation in one species

Mon, 2 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Background/Question/Methods
A single species geographically separated into island and mainland populations often exhibits differences in phenotype between those populations. Size differences, such as dwarfism and gigantism, are well-studied particularly in mammals, but island-mainland population phenotype differences are not well-studied in insects.
Bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) have unique wing venation and imaged bee wings can be used to accurately identify bees to species. Wing venation patterns alone may be sufficient to classify variation between populations of the same species using geometric morphometrics. In this study, we applied these methods to determine if populations of island and mainland bees are significantly different. Populations are from Santa Cruz Island and Santa Barbara, California, a coastal mainland town. Santa Cruz Island is a 35-kilometer long island about 32 kilometers off the coast of Santa Barbara...

Biodiversity associated with constructed hibernacula at a coastal restoration project

Sun, 1 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Ecological restoration seeks to provide quality habitat and maximize native biodiversity in small reserve areas. In restoration projects that begin on largely degraded and/or barren landscapes, constructing habitat-providing features such as hibernacula, structures for small organisms to seek refuge, can aid in the site’s colonization, particularly by small vertebrate species. In 2018, at the start of the North Campus Open Space ecological restoration project in Goleta, California, 63 hibernacula were constructed across a 90-acre landscape, scraped bare for its transformation from a golf course into coastal slough and associated habitats. These simple hibernacula consist primarily of concrete slabs (salvaged from the golf course) piled into meter-deep holes, providing many variably spaced crevices. Although these hibernacula were constructed with the intent to provide habitat for small vertebrate colonizers, a systematic assessment of their species richness and use patterns...

A morphological and genetic analysis of Suaeda from Mexican estuaries

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000
Nearly 100 estuaries exist along the coast of Mexico, resulting in a series of unique and isolated habitats. The plant genus Suaeda Forssk ex J.F. Gmel., an unusual halophyte due to its sexual reproduction and dimorphic seeds, includes a high number of endemic taxa, which appear to have evolved due to the isolation of these estuaries. Nine new species of Suaeda were proposed by botanist Wayne Ferren, but these species have yet to be studied in detail or formally published. In addition to nearly 350 specimens collected by Ferren from 1980-2000, seeds collected from both known and putative species of Suaeda were donated to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) for curation and research. These seeds have been observed using brightfield microscopy and measured using ImageJ to quantify morphological variation. These seeds were also imaged using a scanning electron microscope to detect and describe variation in surface texture. ...

A morphological and genetic analysis of Suaeda from Mexican estuaries

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000
Nearly 100 estuaries exist along the coast of Baja California and Sonora, Mexico, forming a series of unique wetland habitats isolated from each other by the surrounding arid landscape. The genus Suaeda Forssk. ex J.F. Gmel. (Chenopodiaceae) is common in these estuaries and appears to be in the process of diversification. Nine putative new species of Suaeda were detected by Wayne Ferren during fieldwork in this region in the 1980s, but additional taxonomic study was needed before describing these as new to science. Nearly 350 specimens of both known and putative species of Suaeda were collected by Ferren from 1980-2000 and housed at the UCSB Natural History Museum at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) for curation and research. To evaluate Ferren’s hypotheses, DNA was extracted from four exemplars of each putative species, along with four outgroup species, and sequenced using high-throughput ddRADseq. The resulting data were then analyzed in...

Diversification of the Genus Suaeda (Amaranthaceae): Use of Genome Skimming to Elevate Putative Species Radiation in Northwestern Mexico

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000
Nearly 100 estuaries exist along the coast of Baja California and Sonora, Mexico, forming a series of unique wetland habitats isolated from each other by the surrounding arid landscape. The genus Suaeda Forssk. ex J.F. Gmel. (Amaranthaceae, formerly Chenopodiaceae) is common in these estuaries and has been hypothesized to be in the process of diversification. Nine putative new species of Suaeda were detected by Wayne Ferren during fieldwork in this region in the 1980s, but additional taxonomic study was needed before describing these as new to science. Nearly 350 specimens of both currently accepted and potentially new species of Suaeda were collected by Ferren from 1980-2000 and housed at the UCSB Natural History Museum at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) for curation and research. Here we aim to evaluate Ferren’s hypotheses using phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence data. Genomic DNA was extracted...

From rejection to collection! A new entomology collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History takes the university by swarm.

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000
The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) has formed an insect collection from 10,000 historical specimens that were rediscovered in a basement on the UCSB campus and a little funding. Since its discovery, the UCSB collection has grown rapidly through Coastal California arthropod survey efforts, donated student collections, and faculty research projects. These surveys, conducted by the Cheadle Center for conservation and restoration monitoring, are hugely valuable as the coastal regions of Santa Barbara and Ventura County are critically endangered habitats, with over 95% of these areas lost to human disturbance.

Applying Geometric Morphometrics to Identify Bee Species in the Genus Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) and to Quantify Island-Mainland Variation Within Species

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000
Bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) have unique wing venation and imaged bee wings can be used to accurately identify bees to species. Wing venation patterns alone may be sufficient to classify variation between populations of the same species using geometric morphometrics. An application of this method is presented to discriminate specimens from four species of Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). This genus of sweat bee was chosen for its abundance in local existing monitoring projects and relatively low number of possible species when compared to other Halictidae genera. Specimens were collected from Santa Cruz Island Reserve and Santa Barbara, California, a coastal mainland town. Santa Cruz Island is a 35-kilometer long island about 32 kilometers off the coast of Santa Barbara in the Pacific Ocean, which creates a physical barrier between mainland and island populations. To analyze wing venation patterns, both forewing and hindwing were removed, slide mounted, imaged, and...

Harnessing the power of digitized natural history collections to visualize spatiotemporal patterns in native and non-native bee flight phenology

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

What time of year are bees flying, where are they flying, and how do biogeographical factors, sex, and native status affect flight phenology? Consistent monitoring along with creating spatially and temporally explicit visualizations using large openly available data sets enhance our understanding of trends in flight time phenology and shape our understanding of bee-plant interactions, including shifts in the phenology of bee pollinators.
Species occurrence data from digitized collection networks (iNaturalist, Global Biodiversity Information Faculty (GBIF), Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio), Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN), and UC Santa Barbara Collection Network) are part of an effort to improve our understanding of bees in coastal Santa Barbara County, including the California Channel Islands. New inventory collections combined with historical data from over 11 natural history museums and 2 observation networks are used in an effort to examine patterns and changes in phenology of native and non-native bee species, and create updated species inventories.
Synthesizing...

An Update on the Invertebrate Zoology Collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Sat, 18 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

We are in the second year of a project to revitalize entomology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and have new updates of its impact on the campus to report. The UC Santa Barbara Natural History Collection (UCSB) at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration formed the UCSB Invertebrate Zoology collection from about 10K historical specimens that were found in a basement on the UCSB campus. The collection has continued to grow rapidly through Coastal California arthropod survey efforts, donated student collections, and faculty research projects. New results from the project include the formation of an outreach program through the UCSB Extension Department and discovery of several extirpated rare or endangered insects that once occurred on the UCSB campus. We will report on how the discovery of extirpated species on campus has received some press and the development of a collection on campus has raised the profile of entomology and insect conservation...

Recent ccber_posters items

California Stream Bioassessment Procedure of Phelps Creek, Tributary to Devereux Slough

Trophic Interactions Between Birds and Aquatic Prey at North Campus Open Space

Change in Avian Biodiversity after Restoration of North Campus Open Space

Monitoring Invasion of the New Zealand Mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) in North Campus Open Space

Systematics of California’s critically endangered Nipomo lupine (Lupinus nipomensis)

Curation and Digitization of California Marine Sponges

Public Perceptions and Knowledge of Aquatic Invertebrates in Devereux Slough

Visualizing Waterbird-Aquatic Invertebrate Linkages in North Campus Open Space

Diets of Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) in a coastal southern California preserve

Temperature-Dependent Variation in Flight Muscle Morphology Revealed by Micro-CT Imaging

Using Micro-Computed Tomography to Study Larval Development in a Ground-Nesting Solitary Bee

Exploring Optimizations in Anthophila Taxonomic Research Using Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Wing venation reflects phylogenetic divergence and allometric scaling in bees

Investigating the Climatic Factors that Influence the Activity of the Long Horned Bee Melissodes tepida timberlakei.

Polymorphism as a precursor to speciation in a California endemic salamander

Exploring Optimizations in Anthophila Taxonomic Research Using Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Analyzing Bee Body Size as a Potential Factor of the Island Rule

Undergraduates in Natural History Collections: Educational Opportunities and Needs

Evaluating Sheep Grazing as a Strategy for Restoring the North Campus Open Space (NCOS) Grasslands

Macroinvertebrate Responses to Dissolved Oxygen and Salinity in Devereux Slough

Flying on Broken Wings: Wing Wear Analysis Between Mid-Size Santa Barbara Specialist and Generalist Bee Species Using a Computer Vision Model

A Phylogenetic Analysis of Hybanthus: Reclassifying Hybanthus concolor (Green Violet)

Machine Learning to Aid Pollinator Monitoring of Endangered Plants

To Bee or Not to Bee Hairy: A Quantitative Analysis of Pilosity Across Melissodes tepidus Subspecies

Body Size-Mediated Wing Wear: Analyzing Wing Damage in Native Bee Species Using Image Segmentation Model

Applying geometric morphometrics to assess phenotypic variation in bees

Utilizing Surface Area to Volume ratios and Thermal Tolerance of Various Bee Species to Predict their Performance under Rising Global Temperatures

Variation in Bee Body Size Due to Anthropogenic Land Use

Identifying the Impact of Body Measurements on Dry Weight Across and Within Bee Species

Bee Species Identification: Improving Population Monitoring Techniques

Striped Ambiguity: A Quantitative Approach Towards Understanding Camouflage Using Computer Vision

Beetles Around North Campus Open Space - A Cheadle Center Coverboard Chronicle

California Rapid Assessment Method: Using vernal pool CRAM to evaluate past restoration success & prioritize future restoration goals

Applying geometric morphometrics to assess phenotypic variation in bees

Divergence Date Estimation & Paleobiogeography of the Salamander Subgenus Plethopsis

Physiological Traits as Predictors of Climate Resistance and Sociality in Female Carpenter Bees

Analysis of Algae and Aquatic Vegetation Abundance at the Devereux Slough

Shedding Light on Campus: Improving Student Safety and Energy Efficiency through Light Pollution Analysis

Algae, Macroinvertebrates, and Water Quality Relationships at North Campus Open Space

Aquatic Invertebrate Assessment at the North Campus Open Space

Assessing seed predation to inform the conservation and recovery of the critically endangered Nipomo Mesa Lupine, Lupinus nipomensis

Applying geometric morphometrics to assess phenotypic variation in bees

Algae, Macroinvertebrate and Water Quality Relationships at North Campus Open Space

Assessing Aquatic Invertebrate Establishment in a Restored Wetland Over Time

Effect of Soil Type on Endangered Arenaria paludicola Growth

Utilizing Surface Area to Volume ratios and Thermal Tolerance of Various Bee Species to Predict their Performance under Rising Global Temperatures

Exploring Pilosity in the California Native Bee Melissodes tepidus timberlakei as an Indicator of Age and Implications for Pollinator Response to Climate Change

The Big Bee Project: Advancing Research Through 3D Bee Modeling

Big-Bee: Towards a More Accurate Hair Quantification Pipeline

Herbaria and Film Photography: Curating Real and Imagined Plant Communities

Aquatic Invertebrate Monitoring at Devereux Slough

Reptiles and Restoration: Coverboard Monitoring before and after Wetland Reconstruction

Enviromental Trends in the Distribution of California Bee Species

Big Bee: Hair Recognition and Quantification

Body Size and Taxonomic Influence on Bee Wing Vein Density

Variation of Ocelli Size Between Male and Female Bees in Species of Different Sociality

Identifying island-mainland bee populations with wings

Digitization of the UCSB Herbarium's Seaweed Collection Provides Vital Data to Better Understand the Changing Marine Environment. (2nd Quarter)

Digitization of the UCSB Herbarium's Seaweed Collection Provides Vital Data to Better Understand the Changing Marine Environment

Big-Bee: Una iniciativa para promover el conocimiento de las abejas a través de la digitalización de imágenes y datos de rasgos. ID 112.

Announcing Big-Bee: An initiative to promote understanding of bees through image and trait digitization.

Variation between Santa Cruz Island and mainland bee specimens

Leveraging Large Biological Interaction Data to Quantify Plant Specialization by Bees

Island-mainland variation in bees: Applying geometric morphometrics to wing venation in one species

Biodiversity associated with constructed hibernacula at a coastal restoration project

A morphological and genetic analysis of Suaeda from Mexican estuaries

A morphological and genetic analysis of Suaeda from Mexican estuaries

Diversification of the Genus Suaeda (Amaranthaceae): Use of Genome Skimming to Elevate Putative Species Radiation in Northwestern Mexico

From rejection to collection! A new entomology collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History takes the university by swarm.

Applying Geometric Morphometrics to Identify Bee Species in the Genus Halictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) and to Quantify Island-Mainland Variation Within Species

Harnessing the power of digitized natural history collections to visualize spatiotemporal patterns in native and non-native bee flight phenology

An Update on the Invertebrate Zoology Collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara