UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A team led by a Penn State professor and doctoral student have compiled a checklist documenting the bee species in Colombia — the first of its kind for any country in the Western Hemisphere.
Margarita M. López-Uribe, the Nancy and John Steimer Professor of Agricultural Sciences Associate Professor of Entomology, and Ruben D. Martín-Rojas, doctoral student in entomology, published their work — in collaboration with 44 partners representing 31 institutions — in the journal PeerJ. López-Uribe’s contributions to the study were made possible by the Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program.
Located in northern South America, Colombia serves as a crucial land bridge between Central and South America. Tropical countries such as Colombia generally support the highest biodiversity for many groups of plants and animals — for example, the country is home to the largest number of species of birds, orchids, palms, freshwater fish and butterflies in the world. However, the number of bee species do not follow the same pattern; the tropics generally show a lower number of species compared to subtropical areas. These patterns may be partially driven by huge gaps in data from tropical regions of the world, according to López-Uribe.
“Bees are among the most important pollinators in both natural and agricultural ecosystems, but their patterns of diversity vary significantly between temperate regions, where they have been studied the most, and tropical regions, where we did our study,” López-Uribe said. “Species checklists may sound simple, but they are critical tools we have to document and conserve biodiversity by reporting their changes overtime.”
This bee checklist provides the most complete picture to date of bee biodiversity in Colombia. Previous counts have reported between 466 and 604 bee species; the new checklist by Martín-Rojas, López-Uribe and collaborators reported 738, including 246 newly recorded for the country, and 20% of which are only found in Colombia. Even so, the team estimated the true number of species in this country is closer to 1,400, highlighting that about 25% of the species remain to be unreported or undescribed.
The team’s findings revealed unique aspects about the variety of bees in the country, according to the researchers. In temperate regions, like North America and Europe, only 10% of the bees are social and 70% nest underground. However, in Colombia, about 40% of bee species are social, and most nest above ground. In addition, most bee species biodiversity was found in the Andean region, which exhibits a range of different climates, rather than the dry habitats usually home to high biodiversity in temperate regions.
“Insect collections are invaluable archives of biodiversity,” Martín-Rojas said. “For this study, local collections contributed with 70% of the records reported in the checklist.”
The work involved a collaboration among 18 insect collections across Colombia. The team built a network of local entomological collections to compile specimen data, combined with records available in public data repositories and taxonomic literature. Beyond documenting biodiversity, the researchers said this study highlighted the value of natural history collections, open science and scientific collaboration. The collaborative network used to compile the checklist is now known as “Proyecto Abejas de Colombia,” and brings together museums, universities and researchers across the country.
Strategic funding sources
López-Uribe took a yearlong sabbatical funded by the Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program to conduct this study. She was one of 12 Penn Staters who received a Fulbright award for 2023-24.
“This project exemplifies how Fulbright-supported academic exchange can foster meaningful scientific collaboration across borders,” said Siela Maximova, research professor of plant biotechnology and director for Latin America in the Caribbean for Penn State Global. “This landmark publication provides an essential foundation for biodiversity research and pollinator conservation throughout the Americas while strengthening the global connections that drive discovery and innovation, especially in water, energy and food."
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, the United States’ flagship international educational exchange program, gives recipients the opportunity to conduct advanced research, teach and/or attend seminars abroad. The program also gives recipients the chance to learn from — and with — their host communities during their stay.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright program has provided more than 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to critical international problems.
Martín-Rojas’ participation was supported by a Strategic Networks and Initiatives Program (SNIP) grant from the College of Agricultural Sciences. Specifically, the grant came through activities in the Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) Nexus — “an integrative framework for novel research to address complex challenges of biodiversity conservation, sustainable and equitable resource management, economic development, and climate resilience,” according to the website.
“We have robust activities in the Americas and in Africa around water, energy, and food,” said Maximova, who works extensively with the WEF Nexus in addition to her work with the Cacao and Chocolate Research Network at Penn State. “I’m thrilled to see such a groundbreaking global research opportunity come to life, especially one led by a graduate student.”
In addition to the Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program and SNIP, the U.S. National Science Foundation partially funded this work under grant numbers OISE 1952470 and 2420254. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.
Fulbright at Penn State
Penn State is the national leader in producing Fulbright Scholars over the last decade, ranking No. 1 in the nation in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and No. 2 in 2024. More than 100 Fulbright awards have been given to Penn State since 2015.
This effort is supported by the Faculty Fulbright Office, which sits in Penn State Global and supports faculty who are interested in Fulbright experiences throughout the application process. Discipline-based panels of former Fulbright recipients will review applications and provide critical feedback to strengthen them.
“Fulbright advising has grown through the accretion of specialized services, driven by the strong commitment and support of Penn State’s leadership,” said Sylvester Osagie, faculty Fulbright adviser within Penn State Global. “We are thankful to faculty members who invest their time in their colleagues looking for opportunities to teach or do research abroad, ensuring that interest in the program remains high.”
For more information on their research in Colombia, contact Margarita M. López-Uribe at mml64@psu.edu and Ruben D. Martín-Rojas at rdm5664@psu.edu.
For more information on the Fulbright program at Penn State, contact Sylvester Osagie at facultyfulbright@psu.edu.