Wetlands Study Finds Rare Bee

Image courtesy of Leif Richardson from the New York Natural Heritage Program. This rare bee was found in a wet meadow along Schoharie Creek.

The northern amber bumblebee, considered a critically imperiled species in New York state, was discovered this summer in a wet meadow along Schoharie Creek during fieldwork focused on objectively assessing wetlands. New York City’s watershed is now on the very short list of locations where this tiny creature has been found over the last 40 years! As part of the wetlands study, scientists also collected data about pollinators.

Pollinators, which include bees, birds, bats and butterflies, visit flowers to feed on pollen or nectar and transport pollen grains from place to place. Wetland managers have typically relied on subjective criteria and professional judgement to make decisions about wetland conservation, mitigation and restoration. The new approach will lead to consistency in decision-making. It will also allow conditions and trends in our watershed wetlands to be reliably compared to other wetlands in the state. We are assisting the New York Natural Heritage Program with refining the objective assessment process, which relies on Geographic Information System data and field visits. We oversee more than 5,000 acres of wetlands on our watershed lands. As part of the study, our scientists walked and assessed more than 320 acres of wetlands on both sides of the Hudson River and identified more than 100 species of plants.