A federal reviewof existing data unveils an alarming trend for the western bumblebee population, which has seen its numbers dwindle by as much as 93% in the last two decades.
The findings by the U.S. Geological Survey will help inform a species status assessment to begin this fall by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which may ultimately add the insect to its endangered species list.
The senior author of the study, who is also a research ecologist with the survey, said the trend with the western bumblebee documented between 1998 and 2018 is troubling because of their important role as pollinators.
There are multiple factors contributing to the decline of the bumblebee population, including pesticides, habitat fragmentation, a warming climate and pathogens, researchers say.