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The Importance of Bees in our Ecosystem
The Buzz from the Bee Lady
Gretchen LeBuhn, San Francisco State University, lebuhn@sfsu.edu, 415-405-0729Most people are unaware that there are many more species of bees than honeybees and bumblebees. In fact, there are at least 20,000 species of bees in the world, at least 3500 different species in North America and somewhere between 300 and 400 species found in Napa and Sonoma counties!! Bees range from the size of tiny fly to a large carpenter bee and can come in many colors from black to red to bright metallic blues and greens (like this Agapostemon pictured above). Between 60-70% of the vascular plants rely on insects for pollination. Bees are important for pollination of both plants of wild lands and agricultural species. In North America alone, estimates of the value of bees (native bees and the introduced honey bee) as pollinators of crops ranged between $4.6 billion and $18.8 billion in the late 1980’s.
Although the social bees, such as the widely naturalized European Honey Bee, are most familiar to the layperson, the vast majority of bees (order Hymenoptera, family Apoidea) are solitary - meaning that a single female, after she emerges from her pupae and is mated by a male, constructs, provisions and lays an egg in a nest by herself. This is in comparison with social (called eusocial) bees like the Bumble Bees and Honey Bees, all of whom have a Queen who lays eggs and a number of workers who look after them. Some bees nest in living or dead wood (Carpenter bees), old rodent holes and in soil, while others construct nests in existing hollows like this carpenter bee larvae in an agave stem pictured at right) using other materials such as soil or grass stems. All bees are completely dependent on flowers as pollen is their only source of protein. Most bees show flower constancy to some extent when collecting pollen. Many solitary bees, however, collect pollen from only one or only a few species of flower.
This year, we are working on two different projects with solitary bees in Napa and Sonoma. First, since we do not even know what bees are found in Napa and Sonoma, we are doing and inventory of the bees found in oak woodlands and looking at how important the patches of oak woodland in the valleys are for bee species. Recent work in Arizona suggests that small fragments of land can be important for maintaining bee diversity. Our second project is working with the Sonoma Valley Resource Conservation District to develop cover crops that are a win for both wine and wildlife. Cover crops have substantial effects on several components of vineyard ecosystems. They can enhance the natural control of arthropod pests, aid with erosion control, suppress weeds, and increase nitrogen. We believe cover crops may provide important resources for native bees. In the Napa and Sonoma valleys, vineyards with cover crops that include native wildflowers may provide critical food resources and corridors for solitary bees. For more information on solitary bees, I suggest looking at the USDA Bee Lab website-- http://www.loganbeelab.usu.edu/. We are currently working on a guide to bees of the Bay area, including Napa and Sonoma.
PS If you’ve gotten stung, don’t blame a bee, it is usually a wasp or yellow jacket which aren’t bees at all!
Streamgage Network Increased to Seven
The Napa County RCD will be adding two new streamgages to their system this year. One will be installed on Murphy Creek in the Tulocay watershed and the other will replace an older gage on Huichica Creek. Both streamgages will be installed in November, in time to measure fluctuating water levels this rainy season.
Like the gage installed on Carneros Creek last season, these streamgages will be telemetric: meaning landowners, farmers and property managers will be able to call a phone number that connects them with the data collector. From there, a voice-synthesizer converts the data to a voice message that reports the real-time water level of the creek.
The water level is measured and recorded every 15 minutes. This data can later be converted to a total water load for an individual storm event or an entire water-year. In times of growing concern about the amount of water in our streams, this data is valuable to many interested parties.
“Building our telemetric streamgage network has been a huge accomplishment,” says District Hydrologist, Blaine Jones. “Eventually, we would like to have real-time streamgage data on the Internet, so that anyone and everyone can see stream and creek levels in Napa County without having to go outside. This is one of the necessary steps toward meeting that vision.”
The District hopes to continue to add to its streamgage network on an annual basis. Stay tuned for developments.
History Will Shed Light On Existing Watershed Conditions:
Carneros & Sulphur Creek WatershedsThe Napa RCD, San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and Friends of the Napa River are collaborating to collect historical information about land use changes in the Napa River watershed. With funding from the CALFED Watershed Program, staff members from the RCD and SFEI are currently collecting information about the Carneros and Sulphur Creek watersheds. The information gathered will be merged with the information that Friends and SFEI have been collecting over the past few years to provide a better understanding of the entire Napa River watershed. The project involves three phases that will ultimately result in the ability to determine rates of ecosystem change over time and provide clues about the causes of ecosystem changes.
The first phase of the project includes gathering historical documents, maps and oral histories. During the second phase, the historical information is merged and a picture of change is developed that highlights both physical and biological changes in the watershed. Lastly, the third phase of the project will result in a timeline of changes with snapshots of watershed conditions.
The RCD and SFEI are currently in the first phase of the project with regard to gathering information about the Carneros and Sulphur Creek watersheds. A wealth of historical information about the watersheds has been gathered over the past few months including old maps, photos, newspaper articles and personal reflections. To obtain a more accurate idea about watershed changes over time, the RCD is interested in interviewing longtime residents of either the Carneros or Sulphur Creek watersheds, or anyone else who has knowledge of the changes that have taken place. If you or someone you know would like to be interviewed for this project, please contact Michael Champion at the RCD at 252-4188.
Federal Conservation $’s
A Great Deal For Napa Co. Farmers and RanchersNapa County grape growers and ranchers received some an extra incentives this year to get interested in conservation. Over $250,000 in Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) monies flowed to Napa County through the recently enacted federal farm bill. Phill Blake, Napa’s NRCS District Conservationist, reports that funds more than doubled for this cost share incentive program, versus previous years. “Locally, we were able to use these monies to fund a variety of conservation measures, including vineyard cover crops, Pierce’s disease management/ riparian restoration projects, erosion control strategies, noxious weed management programs, and grazing management projects,” said Blake. Nationally, Congress got a variety of farm bill programs off to a strong start by significantly increasing funds to a number of conservation programs aimed at addressing tough issues such as soil erosion, sustainable farming, water quality protection, and wildlife habitat enhancement.
Blake added, “These programs are a good deal for our community. They help the farmer sustain agricultural resources, while protecting and enhancing the natural environments of our streams and watersheds.” Look for more good news in coming years. The five-year farm bill ramps up the EQIP program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), two programs that have been popular in the past with local growers and ranchers. The other good news is that we are turning the corner on restoration of the Napa River watershed. A lot of credit should be given to the farm community, who is taking the incentives and voluntarily adopting land stewardship measures. Many thanks also to Congressman Mike Thompson for his interest and support in this vital effort.
Anyone interested in more information on these programs should call the NRCS/ RCD offices at 252-4188. The programs can be applied for on a year round basis, so give us a call with your questions. The NRCS is available to provide free consultation and design services for these programs and other technical assistance needs you may have.
RCD Begins a New Program to Measure Sediment:
starting on Carneros CreekSediment loads in the Napa River system have been a hot local topic for at least ten years and a new Napa RCD program proposes to measure them in an innovative way.
RCD technical staff is preparing to set up our first dedicated sediment station on a Napa River tributary. With funding from the State Water Resources Control Board, the RCD is establishing a sediment station on Carneros Creek to measure turbidity, flow and suspended sediment concentration. The station will be installed this fall and will be followed by one or two more stations in 2003, at locations yet to be determined.
These stations will implement a new technique called turbidity threshold sampling, which uses turbidity – a measure of water clarity – to measure suspended sediment. Turbidity can be measured continuously by means of an appropriate sensor, but sediment loads can be measured only by taking water samples for subsequent analysis, so that direct sediment load information is inherently limited. The new system accomplishes three basic tasks:
- Programmed equipment will measure turbidity and water level continuously
- A pumping sampler will collect suspended sediment samples automatically when specific values (“thresholds”) of turbidity are exceeded
- Using hand equipment, our staff will measure flow and collect further sediment samples
The resulting package of information will greatly improve our estimates of sediment loads. Research has shown that turbidity is closely related to suspended sediment concentration as long as sediment particle size is fairly constant, and this new technique makes it possible to collect suspended sediment samples throughout a storm in order to quantify the relationship between turbidity and suspended sediment concentration. The flow measurements and hand-collected samples will provide additional information to round out the picture.
The new technique was pioneered by Rand Eads and Jack Lewis of the Pacific Southwest Research Laboratory (US Forest Service) at Arcata and has been in use for several years in northwest California. Rand and Jack have been a big help in the design of our stations, as have all the scientists who participated on our technical advisory team.
We are optimistic that the data obtained from the new sediment stations will help inform the ongoing local debate on sediment in our streams. Up to now, evaluation of sediment in the streams has been possible only indirectly, by inspection of the dry streambed. If the new stations are a success, much more direct analysis and explicit comparisons of sites and storms will be possible.
Tributary Watershed Assessments Underway
Major watershed assessments are going on now in two Napa River tributary watersheds. In response to requests from the Sulphur Creek and Carneros Creek Stewardship groups, the RCD obtained CALFED funding to carry out comprehensive assessments of these two watersheds. Both of these groups wanted a basic physical and biological assessment of their watersheds, in order to develop management plans that meet their needs.
Field work began this summer in a number of task areas and we expect to be presenting initial results to the stewardship groups in November. Field-based task areas include channel geomorphology, hillslope sediment sources, and fish habitat quality, and there are also historical research tasks related to ecology and water budget.
These technical tasks are being carried out by RCD staff working together with San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), of Oakland, and Pacific Watershed Associates (PWA), of Arcata. SFEI is playing the lead role in channel geomorphology and historical ecology, and PWA is leading the work on hillslope sediment sources. An RCD staff person is working on each of these tasks as well, so that the institutional memory of the project in our office will be strong. If you are interested in any of these task areas, you can call Blaine (channel geomorphology), Michael (historical ecology), Lara (hillslope sediment sources), Jonathan (fish assessments), or Bob (water budget).
Each of these task areas will result in a technical report, and the individual reports will be the basis for a watershed management plan for each watershed, which will be completed in 2003.
Water Quality Planning on the Ranch
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and University of California Cooperative Extension are sponsoring a short course on water quality planning for ranchers in Napa County. The 5-day course will provide ranchers with an opportunity to develop water quality management plans that incorporate the needs of their individual business and property management objectives. Participants will develop maps of their ranches, complete a water quality assessment of their ranch and develop a draft management plan and water quality monitoring program. In addition, participants will explore the relationship between grazing and water quality and learn how to identify and address water quality concerns on the ranch.
The course is specific to Napa County and is part of The California Rangeland Water Quality Management Plan, a statewide voluntary water quality program adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board and sponsored by the California Cattleman’s Association, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, California Woolgrowers Association, California Farm Bureau Federation, and the Regional Water Quality Control Boards. Through sponsorship of this voluntary program, the livestock industry hopes to show its commitment to a quality environment while remaining a viable economic force in the State. Landowners participating in the short course will receive a certificate documenting their involvement and training.
The course will consist of four evening sessions and one afternoon field trip to a local ranch. The evening sessions will be held from 6:00—9:00 at the UC Cooperative Extension office in Napa on November 6, 13, 19 and 26. The afternoon session will be sometime in March or April at a location to be determined.
The course fee, if registration is received by November 1st, is $30 per person or per ranch (multiple people from the same ranch may attend at no additional charge). The course fee increases to $40 if registration is received after November 1st. Pre-registration is necessary so that aerial photos and maps of your ranch can be obtained prior to the start of the course. For more information call Morgan Doran, UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor at 707/435-2459 or Phill Blake, USDA-NRCS District Conservationist at 707/252-4189.
Watershed Clean-up 2002
The 18th annual Coastal Cleanup Day was held on September 21, 2002 from 9:00 to noon. Coastal Cleanup Day is part of a nationwide coast and creek cleanup effort, which leverages volunteers to pickup trash and litter from inland and coastal waterways. This year the Napa RCD was the lead agency for the countywide cleanup effort, and was assisted by many other local agencies including the Flood Control District, the City and County of Napa, and the Department of Fish and Game.
Countywide, there were 18 cleanup sites from Calistoga in the north, to Lake Berryessa in the east, and American Canyon in the south. At each cleanup site, a beach captain was there to greet volunteers, provide them with gloves and bags for trash and recycling, and discuss safety issues. Volunteers were given tally sheets to keep track of the amount and type of garbage collected. The data was compiled and sent to the Coastal Commission for an afternoon press release announcing the total amount of trash collected. This year, over 700,000 pounds of debris was removed from California’s beaches, creeks, and rivers!
The RCD would like to thank all the volunteers and city and county staff who helped make this important annual event a success.
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