The decline of wild pollinators has received increasing attention and highlights the need for better understanding of the interactions between plants and pollinators in natural ecosystems. For more than a decade, the Kootenay Native Plant Society has been documenting bees in camas meadows. Recent research by KNPS graduate student Rowan Rampton has allowed us to visualize these complex networks to better understand how best to conserve these threatened meadows.
We invite you to explore these networks on your own. These networks are best viewed on a phone or table.
2021 Bumble Bees only
In 2021, Rowan observed 9 bumble bee species visiting the flowers of 23 plant species. Each visit is recorded as a single line between the plant and the bee. Hover over each of the colour-coded bees, and you will see which flowers they preferred to visit. Each bee has distinct flower preferences. The Vancouver (or two-form) Bumble Bee (Bombus vancouverensis) was the most frequently observed bee with visits to 9 plant species.
Looking on the flower side, you can see that camas (Camassia quamash) had the most visits (29% of the total) coming from six bumble bee species. Hairy Vetch, a common weed in these meadows attracted five bumble bee species.
Direct link:
https://rowanrampton.github.io/InteractiveNetworks/BombusFigure.html
2021 Early Camas Meadow Network
The full network of all flowers and bees in the network is much longer. Here is the early spring interaction network from Rowan’s research in 2021. Camas (Camassia quamash) is highlighted in lavender here.
Direct link:
https://rowanrampton.github.io/InteractiveNetworks/EarlyCamasMeadowNetwork2021.html
Bee Visitors to Camas in 2021 and 2022
Camas was visited by more than 80 distinct bee taxa over two years of field work. In this network, they are separated by bee family. Camas functions as a network hub in these plant-bee communities, driving species richness and connectivity.
Direct Link:
https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/CamasOnlyNet22.html
Links to other networks:
| Network Type | Year(s) Represented | Link |
| Entire Network, Camas Highlighted | 2022 | https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/Cam22Net.html |
| Camas Only by Bee Family | 2022 | https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/CamasOnlyNet22.html |
| Entire Network by Family | 2022 | https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/NetByFam22.html |
| Entire Network by Family | 2021 & 2022 | https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/camasByFam2122.html |
| Camas Only by Family | 2021 & 2022 | https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/camasOnly2122.html |
| Entire Network, Camas Highlighted | 2021 & 2022 | https://rowanrampton.github.io/KNPSNet21-22/camNet2122.html |