Priority Areas
The Imperiled Bombus Conservation Task Force has identified five priority areas for funding; however, other areas will also be considered. If the subject of your research is not an imperiled bumble bee species, please provide an explanation of how the results of your research could impact imperiled bumble bee conservation or address project area foci.
- Analysis/modeling of individual and/or interacting stressors (e.g., pathogens and disease, pesticides, small populations, competition and disease transmission from managed bees, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and climate change) on imperiled bumble bee species abundance, distribution, and health.
- Assessment of imperiled bumble bee colony-level factors, including habitat requirements, foraging, colony growth, overwintering, and nesting.
- Assessment of imperiled bumble bee population-level factors, including population health, dispersal ecology of reproductive males and gynes, mating biology, population genetics, and pesticide registration to guide recommendations for long-term recovery.
- Contributions to improve monitoring techniques to document or increase detection probability, document population health and occupancy, and improve data quality standards of imperiled bumble bee species.
- Development of novel, emerging techniques to improve conservation of imperiled bumble bees, such as nest detection, pathogen sampling, the collection of genetic materials, modeling approaches, and/or use of molecular technologies.
Please note: One time at the midpoint of the grant-cycle, grantees will be asked to provide in-progress photos or videos, and/or a short written description of their project to be utilized by the grant program’s funders and by Pollinator Partnership/NAPPC. Grantees can work with the Bombus Task Force to meet this requirement in a manner that makes sense for them.