The Buzz About Bumble Bees

Written By: Lance Hardin - Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust | Issue: September 2024

Bryan Tompkins

This month the Village Nature Series features Bryan Tompkins, Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Tompkins, a Pollinator Conservation Specialist, will discuss what’s causing native insect population declines and examine the survey efforts, data collection, and habitat restoration efforts taking place in Western North Carolina. The lecture will be on September 24 at 5:30 P.M. in Lewis Hall at the Village Green in Cashiers.

North Carolina has over 500 species of native bees, nearly 3,000 species of moths, and more than 175 species of butterflies. These pollinators play a critical role moving pollen between flowers, which is necessary for fertilization and seed formation.

Over 80 percent of flowering plants require pollination assistance, and an estimated one-third of our food is derived from plants that require pollinators. Robust plant communities support healthy soils and provide erosion controls which in turn promotes water quality.

Sadly, however, many of these pollinators are disappearing. Loss of habitat, pesticides, disease, climate change, and non-native invasive species are all issues affecting the health and diversity of native pollinators in North Carolina. Tompkins will discuss opportunities and methods for implementing pollinator-friendly habitat components and details about prepping, planting, and maintaining pollinator gardens as complete habitats.

Tompkins also has specific species expertise with the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee; just 20 years ago, the rusty patch was so common it went almost unnoticed and could be found in summer fields, farms and yards in 31 states. But in just two decades its numbers have plummeted to the point that extinction is a risk and it was listed as a federally endangered species in 2017. Tompkins will share the ongoing research and efforts to restore the Rusty Patched populations.

Tompkins started his career with the National Park Service but has spent the past nineteen years as a Wildlife Biologist with USFWS in Asheville. In addition to his work with the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, he reviews energy production and development projects to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats from impacts associated with energy production projects and restoration of early successional habitat on energy project sites.

The Village Nature Series is a program co-founded and administered by the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and The Village Green and sponsored by Cedar Creek Club. For more information go to hcltnc.org and villagegreencashiersnc.com.