This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: When it comes to bees, most of us can identify the ubiquitous honey bee (Apis mellifera) and that's about it. But with the emergence of easy identification tools like citizen-science platform iNaturalist, even an amateur melittologist (a bee scientist) can now identify a range of other native bees in their local area—which could go a long way toward supporting the critical role bees play in our environment.
However, bee populations around the world are in trouble. Whether it's the result of pests and diseases, climate change or loss of native vegetation, many species of bees are struggling to survive. Bees pollinate flowering plants and, in doing so, enable plant reproduction, support global food security and the biodiversity of wild ecosystems.
Planting local species that native bees rely on is a powerful way to support biodiversity. Here in Melbourne, when residents in the east of the city planted native rather than exotic plants in their backyards, there was an increase in native bee species—including rare species like the square-headed masked bee (Hylaeus quadriceps) that feeds mostly from native bluebells (Wahlenbergia sp.). For the true biodiversity enthusiast, planting natives can improve the urban environment from a bee's point of view.
And when we consider that native bees typically travel only around 100 meters (330 feet) from their nests, connecting native gardens across neighborhoods can act like a bee highway, encouraging even greater pollination and environmental health. So, what native bees inhabit the City of Melbourne, and what plants do they love? Over the past decade, our Biodiverse Cities group at the University of Melbourne has recorded more than 5,000 interactions between bees and flowers across Melbourne.
This includes more than 100 native bee species and around 250 native and exotic plant species. We fed this data, along with information on urban land cover, climate and the evolutionary relationships between the plant species involved in these interactions, into machine learning models. These models predict which bee species we might find at any location in Melbourne and which plant species they are likely to visit.
We then mapped where five of our most charismatic and distinctive native bees are likely to be found in the City of Melbourne and identified plant species that would collectively provide the greatest support for these bees. We couldn't look at every species, so we chose five to focus on. The first is the blue-banded bee (Amegilla asserta) because it's big in both body size and popularity.
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