Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

1. The decline of bee populations has become a growing concern due to the importance of bees' roles in pollination and maintaining ecosystems (Klein et al., 2007). Several factors that have contributed to the decline in bee populations include habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and the spread of diseases (Potts et al., 2010).

2. Approximately 2,171,588 bee specimens have digitized label data in the US collections; however, only a fraction of species can be assessed due to a lack of data on key species-level traits. Thus, data collection must be extended past labeled data.

3. Photogrammetry – a 3D image reconstruction method –  proves to be a viable option for creating accurate models of bees; however, there are computational and data limitations that can affect model generation runtime and accuracy. Thus, additional data – such as volume – can be measured which is unobtainable from images.

4. Macro-photography poses issues when used as input for photogrammetry methods due to the limited depth of field. Focus-stacking methods can create in full focus images that are appropriate inputs for photogrammetry.