The Future of Native Bees in Australia Under Environmental and Anthropogenic Change - new publication published in Ecology and Evolution!

[Kit Prendergast]

Australian native bees are incredible components of our biodiversity, yet they suffer from lack of funding and inclusion in policy, with research and conservation actions hampered by limited research positions, including a lack of paid taxonomic positions, misunderstanding about the needs of honey bees vs. native bees, and bee washing. The first review of Australian native bee diversity, conservation and threats was published in 2009 by Batley & Hogendoorn - 15 years on, Scarlett Howard & I look at the state of native bee conservation in Australia, and forecast where research needs to be directed as bees face ongoing environmental and anthropogenic change. Native bees are undervalued economically, and whilst there is increasing interest in their crop pollination services, what is really missing is investment into their ecological interactions with wildflowers. We know what threats are operating and impacting native bees, and therefore know enough to act. What is needed is long-term monitoring of bee behaviour, species richness, abundance and distributions using a variety of methods to capture information across species, locations and seasons. Our framework provides advice for future monitoring, assessment, public engagement and target areas for future research, which can also be implemented at a global level.

Read our article here:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.74363

We are also developing an Australian Native Bee & Pollinator Conservation Strategy - stay tuned!

Dr Kit Prendergast

Native bee scientist, conservation ecologist and science communicator

WA Premier's Young Scientist of the Year 2026

WA Young Tall Poppy 2026

Wild Bee Specialist Group Vice-Chair

Adjunct Research Fellow Curtin University and The Univerisity of Western Australia

Forrest Research Foundation Scholar Alumni

Find native bee resources and more on my Patreon The Bee Babette: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheBeeBabette

ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-6099 

Research: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kit-Prendergast/research

YouTube channel The Bee Babette: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBeeBabette 

'Creating a Haven for Native Bees': https://www.facebook.com/CreatingaHavenforNativeBeesBook/

Wild Bee artwork: https://www.redbubble.com/people/BeeBabette/explore?asc=u&page=1&sortOrder=recent

Insta: @dr.beebabette

https://www.instagram.com/dr.beebabette/?hl=en