Bee species checklist of the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona

Authors: MCCABE, LINDSIE - Northern Arizona University; CHESSHIRE, PAIGE - Northern Arizona University; SMITH, DAVID - Us Fish And Wildlife Service; WOLF, ATTICUS - Northern Arizona University; GIBBS, JASON - University Of Manitoba; Griswold, Terry; WRIGHT, KAREN - Texas A&M University; COBB, NEIL - Northern Arizona University

Submitted to: Biodiversity Data Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2020
Publication Date: 4/2/2020
Citation: McCabe, L.M., Chesshire, P.R., Smith, D.R., Wolf, A., Gibbs, J., Griswold, T.L., Wright, K., Cobb, N.S. 2020. Bee species checklist of the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona. Biodiversity Data Journal. 8: Article e49285. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e49285.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e49285

Interpretive Summary: The San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona rise precipitously from the surrounding tablelands of the Colorado Plateau. This strong elevational gradient provides a compact area in which to study the changes in plants and animals that is equivalent to going from the southern United States to northern Canada and Alaska. Eleven years studying the bees of the San Francisco Peaks has demonstrated how diverse bees can be in a small area if there are large changes in elevation. A total of 359 species have been found. Previously, based on web databases, only 155 species were. The results show the value of systematic studies for a region. In addition to adding 204 species to the known bees of the San Francisco Peaks, 15 species are the first records for northern Arizona and nine are new records for Arizona. Fifteen species appear to be new to science.

Technical Abstract: Here we present a checklist of the bee species found on the C. Hart Merriam elevation gradient along the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. Elevational gradients can serve as natural proxies for climate change, replacing time with space as they span multiple vegetation zones over a short geographic distance. Describing the distribution of bee species along this elevation gradient will help predict how bee communities respond to changing climate. To address this, we initiated an inventory associated with ecological studies on pollinators that documented bees on the San Francisco Peaks. Sample sites spanned six life zones (vegetation zones) on the San Francisco Peaks from 2009 to 2019. We also include occurrence data from other studies, gathered by querying the Symbiota Collection of Arthropods Network (SCAN) portal covering the San Francisco Peaks region (hereafter referred to as “the Peaks”). New information Our checklist reports 359 bee species and morphospecies spanning five families and 46 genera that have been collected in the Peaks region. Prior to our concerted sampling effort there were records for 155 bee species, yet there has not been a complete list of bee species inhabiting the Peaks published to date. Over a ten-year period, we documented an additional 204 bee species inhabiting the Peaks. Our study documents range expansions to northern Arizona for 15 species. The majority of these are range expansions from either southern Arizona, southern Utah, or the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. Nine species are new records for Arizona, four of which are the southernmost record for that species. An additional 15 species are likely undescribed.