Bees decline as crop diversity declines: New research by Claudio Gratton and Jeremy Hemberger

Claudio Gratton's entomology research focuses on how our agricultural landscapes influence the lives of beneficial insects. In this podcast, Claudio sits down for a conversation with a former student of his, Dr. Jeremy Hemberger. Hemberger, Gratton, and their colleague Michael Crossley have just released a paper showing that it is not necessarily the amount of land in agriculture, but the diversity (or lack thereof) of agricultural crops that has the greatest impact on bumblebees. Their research supports the idea that agriculture can provide ecological benefits and support beneficial insects as long as it mimics the biological diversity of healthy grasslands. 

To learn more about this research, or to see the excellent illustrations developed for the project, you can visit the Gratton lab website at https://gratton.entomology.wisc.edu/ 

This research was recently featured at https://news.wisc.edu/midwest-bumble-bees-declined-with-more-farmed-land-less-diverse-crops-since-1870/

This podcast is made possible thanks to a Sustainable Agricultural Systems Coordinated Agriculture grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.