Posts tagged Boulder County
CU: Rare western bumblebees netted on Colorado’s Front Range
Sep 3rd
A survey of bumblebee populations carried out largely by University of Colorado Boulder undergraduates in undisturbed patches of prairieland and in mountain meadows above campus has turned up more than 20 rare western bumblebees, known scientifically as Bombus occidentalis.
This is the fourth summer of a planned five-year survey in Boulder County, led by biologists Carol Kearns and Diana Oliveras, both of whom teach in CU-Boulder’s Baker Residential Academic Program. The survey team, which this summer included five undergraduates along with Oliveras and Kearns, has been hunting bumblebees at nine different locations spanning low, middle and high elevations.
The first western bumblebee was netted last year at one of the low-elevation plots, located at around 5,000 feet. The same plot also was visited frequently by Kearns and Oliveras during a more general survey of all pollinators between 2001 and 2005.
“For five years we sampled fairly intensely at this one site and never found anything,” Oliveras said. “Then all of a sudden, last year, we found several bees at that one site.”
The surveyors also found western bumblebees last year at a mid-elevation site of around 8,000 feet. In all, the team found nine western bumblebees in 2012: three queens and six workers.
Because insect populations are notoriously variable from year to year, Kearns and Oliveras wanted to find the bumblebees for a second year before announcing that the western bumblebee appeared to be returning to the Front Range. This year, the team has netted more than a dozen western bumblebees at four different locations, including the same low-elevation prairie plot and all three mid-elevation meadows. The distance between the sites means that the bumblebees are likely from separate colonies.
“These are sites that are fairly far away from each other, even as the crow flies,” Oliveras said. “Within a plot, if you’re going to be conservative, you can say that all the Bombus occidentalis arose from a single colony. But between plots, that’s quite a distance for them. They wouldn’t normally be traveling that far.”
The western bumblebee was once ubiquitous across the western portion of the United States and Canada, Oliveras and Kearns said. Its northern range encompassed all of Alaska, the Yukon Territory, British Columbia and western Alberta. Its southern boundaries extended as far south as Arizona and New Mexico. The bumblebee’s range also stretched from the Pacific Ocean eastward through North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado. But beginning in the late 1990s, the western bumblebee became harder and harder to find.
“They have been disappearing rapidly across the West Coast, and there have been only occasional sightings in the Rocky Mountains,” Kearns said. “People have found a few bumblebees on the Western Slope of Colorado, but we were looking for them here and we weren’t finding any.”
Several factors have been implicated in the decline of the western bumblebee, according to Kearns and Oliveras. The biggest suspect is a non-native gut parasite that may have been transmitted from commercially raised bumblebee colonies. While parasites and other diseases can kill bees outright, anything that affects the bumblebees’ food supply or nesting sites also will affect their ability to survive. That means that habitat loss, pesticides, climate change and invasive plants and animals may be contributing to the losses in western bumblebee populations.
Earlier this summer, reports that the western bumblebee had been spotted in the Seattle area were confirmed by local biologists, indicating that the bumblebees could be making a broader comeback.
The wider goal of the ongoing bumblebee survey in Boulder County is to catalog all the types of bumblebees buzzing around the area and their population size. The team has catalogued a number of different species during the last four summers, including the mountain bumblebee, the Nevada bumblebee, the two-form bumblebee and the central bumblebee, among others.
“Our whole interest in bumblebees relates to the fact that pollinators are declining, but there is no abundance data for bumblebees in this area from the past,” Kearns said. “How do you tell if something is declining if there are no abundance data? So we decided we’d get out there and we’d find out what bumblebees are here and how many.”
Each year, Kearns and Oliveras have recruited undergraduate students to help them. This summer, the undergraduate researchers were Benjamin Bruffey, Sam Canter, Sarah Niemeyer, Zoe Praggastis and Cole Steinmetz.
To see a video about CU-Boulder’s bumblebee survey visit http://youtu.be/sKryBKX-nbU. For more information on the Baker Residential Academic Program visit http://bakerrap.colorado.edu/.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
-CU-
Free firewood? What a deal!
Jul 25th
Firewood Program:
Wood generated by the City of Boulder’s forest management operations is made available to the public, at the OSMP South Boulder Creek West Trailhead. The wood is available on a first-come, first-served basis and is usually on-site between the months of May and November.
Beginning July 15, 2013, due to recently enacted restrictions, wood pick-up will require users to sign a contract, pay an annual $15 administration fee, and get a gate key to access the wood.
Contracts and keys are available at the OSMP Administrative Offices at 66 S. Cherryvale Road between the hours of 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, M-F. The contract and key will allow users to access the firewood during the following hours:
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10 am to 5 pm
- The 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10 am to 2 pm
For additional information please call OSMP at 303-441-3440.
The following Terms and Conditions apply to all woodlot users:
- Only those who have a current, signed contract with OSMP may get firewood.
- The signed contract must be in your possession when picking up wood. You must present it to OSMP staff, if requested to do so;
- You may access and remove firewood only during the hours of operation noted below;
- You may take no more than one-half cord (4’x4’x4’) of wood per day;
- You must return the woodlot key within 30 days upon termination of this contract, or sooner, if OSMP staff so directs;
- You must comply with all OSMP rules and regulations, including not entering areas that are temporarily or permanently restricted or closed;
- You must respect the rights and privileges of others, including those picking up firewood under similar contracts;
- Dogs accompanying anyone picking up wood must be leashed and under your control;
- Please remove all trash or litter; and
- You are responsible for any damage to your vehicle or to City property resulting from your participation in firewood cutting or removal.
No one may:
- Use a woodlot key without a current, signed contract;
- Duplicate or permit another person to use their assigned key to the woodlot;
- Conduct sales or solicitation for sales on OSMP property;
- Block traffic or parking or create an unsafe or hazardous situation;
- Use a chainsaw without a spark arrestor; or
- Use heavy equipment such as tractors or bulldozers to aid in picking up wood.
REMINDER:
- All motor vehicles not registered in Boulder County must display either a daily or an annual parking permit to park at the South Boulder Creek West trailhead parking lot. A parking permit is NOT required inside the woodlot area while picking up firewood.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
West Nile Virus found in county
Jul 21st
Take precautions
Mosquitoes in the City of Boulder and other Boulder County properties have tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV). Although the majority of mosquitoes being screened for the virus are negative, if bitten by a virus-carrying mosquito, there is a risk of people contracting the disease. There have been no human cases confirmed in the City of Boulder or Boulder County this year.
On June 25, one positive mosquito sample collected was pooled from traps at Christensen Park and Stazio Ball Fields. On July 2, a second positive sample collected was pooled from traps located at Christensen Park, Tom Watson Park, Locust and 10th streets and South Boulder Recreation Center. Pooled samples indicate that positive mosquitoes came from at least one of the sites listed.
To decrease the likelihood of human/mosquito interactions and to help minimize the spread of WNV, the city recommends that residents’ mosquito-proof their properties by:
- Draining any standing water outside your home;
- Not over-watering landscaping or turf (mosquitoes can breed in very small amounts of stagnant water); and
- Inspecting properties for any items that can hold water, including toys, tarps and covers, pots, wheelbarrows, tire swings, recycling bins, trash cans and lids. Birdbaths should be changed every 3 to 4 days.
The virus can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites. Keep safe this summer and remember the four D’s:
- Use insect repellent that contains DEET, picaridin, 2 percent soybean oil, or oil of lemon eucalyptus;
- DRESS in long sleeves and pants.
- Avoid the outdoors from DUSK until DAWN.
- DRAIN standing water outside your home.
Beginning in mid-May, the city regularly monitors mosquito number (and type) with a grid of surveillance traps. The city treats mosquito habitats with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti). Mosquito larval control with Bti is the most effective and environmentally sensitive strategy to control the spread of WNV mosquitoes and reduce the risk of human infections.
For general information about the city’s Mosquito Control program including WNV, visitwww.BoulderColorado.gov/ipm and click on, “Mosquito Control Program.” There is also a WNV Hotline at 303-441-3400 that provides basic information and weekly updates if new information is available. The State of Colorado also provides helpful WSN resources at www.fightthebitecolorado.com.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]