TOOELE, UTAH, USA -- Wildlife conservation is critical to sustaining the planet's biodiversity and health. But putting together a conservation plan is a tall order. First of all, you need to determine what species you're conserving, along with their numbers, habitat needs, threats and how they fit into a complex ecosystem.
As pollinators for native plants and food crops, bees play a pivotal role in our ecosystem, according to Utah State University ecologist Joseph Wilson. He and undergraduate researcher Anthony Hunsaker took on the herculean task of documenting Utah's bee species using online occurrence records from the Symbiota Collection of Arthropods Network, along with specimen records housed at the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit located at USU's Logan campus.
They discovered the nickname "Beehive State" aptly describes the western state's bee diversity, and published "A Checklist of the Bees of Utah," with colleagues Terry Griswold of the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit and USU alum Olivia Messinger Carril (Biology '00, MS'06) of the Native Pollinator Project, in the March 14, 2025 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Diversity.
"In total, we documented 1,167 bee species in the state of Utah," says Wilson, evolutionary ecologist and associate professor in the Department of Biology and the USU Ecology Center at USU Tooele .
Hunsaker, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in natural resources from USU Tooele in May 2024, says documenting as many bees as possible is important for accuracy.
"We want our research to represent the truth and inform conservationists," says the Magna, Utah native, who graduated from Cyprus High School in 2018. "This is important for conservation efforts, because our list shows evidence for high species richness in Utah."
Hunsaker, who teaches, among other courses, a wildlife studies class at a public middle school, says the checklist will aid conservationists in identifying bee specimens, serve as a baseline to determine if any new bees are identified in Utah and serve as an alert if a species is disappearing from the state.
"Our checklist helps scientists and managers understand bee distributions, which are essential to protecting these vital pollinators," he says. "The information can help managers limit adverse impacts, if a new invasive species is introduced."
Wilson says a state-level checklist is useful, as conservation efforts and policies are often made at the state level.
"While several North American state and province-level bee species have been published, few exist for the arid western states where bee diversity tends to be higher," he says. "Our findings highlight Utah as one of the most bee-rich regions. We estimate there could be as many as 1,500 bee species in our state."
A first-generation college graduate, Hunsaker says he got involved in undergraduate research, because he would like to pursue graduate studies in the future.
"Dr. Wilson introduced me to the possibilities of research and graduate school and, when we were brainstorming ideas for projects I could work on, the ideas of a bee species list for Utah really stood out for me," he says. "I knew a list could be very helpful and valuable to people working in conservation, and I was excited to be involved in an effort to protect wildlife."
Hunsaker says the project taught him research can be mundane and repetitive at times, but completing the task and getting published was "very rewarding."
"Being involved in undergraduate research is extremely beneficial, as it opens your mind to what this process is and what it can look like," he says. "Even if you aren't planning to go to graduate school, I learned and practiced patience, problem-solving, critical thinking and analytical skills — all qualities that can be applied in future studies or in the workforce."
