The Future of Native Bees in Australia Under Environmental and Anthropogenic Change

The extent and causes of recent regional and global insect declines have been heavily debated, raising important arguments, primarily concerning a lack of knowledge on insect pollinators and their population trajectories. Bees are considered one of the most important groups of pollinators. Anthropogenic activities such as land-clearing, agricultural activities, urbanisation, pollutants, pesticide use, non-native flora and fauna introductions, disruption of natural fire regimes and climate change, among other threats, are having varied impacts on bees. Australia is a biogeographically isolated continent estimated to host over 2000 native bee species, with the vast majority of species found nowhere else in the world. Despite the potential ecological and economic importance of Australian bees, there is a paucity of information regarding their behaviour, distribution, conservation status, pollination abilities and responses to anthropogenic threats. Native bees are economically undervalued in Australia; however, efforts to explore their crop pollination abilities and value to the economy are underway. Here we discuss the past and current research into native Australian bees regarding anthropogenic influences in light of emerging research into pollinator declines. We highlight the importance of studying an island continent with a rich diversity of endemic bees and provide a framework for future research and conservation efforts. The framework includes suggestions for long-term monitoring of bee behaviour, species richness, abundance and distributions using a variety of methods to capture information across species, locations and seasons. We advocate for continued and enhanced engagement with the public, who are already contributing to community science projects and online repositories. 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.