The Sonoran Desert: A Global Bee Biodiversity Hotspot
Presented by Tanner Bland
Program Coordinator, Tucson Bee Collective
Thursday, November 13, 2025
Meeting and Presentation, 7pm in person and on Zoom (link below)
U of A campus, Environment and Natural Resources Building (ENR2), Room S210 (NOTE ROOM CHANGE on 2nd floor)
1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson AZ
The Tucson Bee Collaborative is a partnership between the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, University of Arizona Insect Collection, and Pima Community College. The Collaborative is focused on documenting native bee biodiversity, understanding their local conservation status, and involving students in place-based education while participating in cutting-edge molecular research. Our current research efforts focus on sequencing the DNA of every bee species in the Tucson Basin and providing detailed records of their abundance and diversity through time and space.
In this presentation, Tanner will discuss the evolutionary origins, classification, and life histories of some native, solitary bees from the Sonoran Desert region. He will focus on the evolution of bee-plant relationships, using data from his research, which attempts to document how often bees visit certain plants, particularly those of conservation concern.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
As the program coordinator for the Tucson Bee Collaborative, Tanner Bland conducts outreach, identifies bee specimens from their collections, and works to expand a DNA barcoding program to include high schools, community colleges, state parks, etc. that help them reach the goal of surveying and monitoring the local bee fauna of the Tucson Basin.
A master’s student in the Entomology department at the University of Arizona, Tanner’s research focuses on using museum bee specimens to understand past and present trends in pollination services performed by native, solitary bees using DNA from pollen grains. Currently, the lab is assessing the diversity of cacti visited by native cactus bees in the genus Diadasia.
Tanner’s other area of expertise is in the ecology, evolution, and phylogenetics of the largest bee genus in North America, Perdita, the fairy bees. They are remarkable in their number of specialized interactions with plants, and Tanner is using them to better understand the evolution of bee diets, how and when specialist bees evolve, and their role in the conservation of rare or imperiled plant species.
ZOOM LINK
As many of you know, we have been having problems getting the Zoom link to work some months. We regret this, but are doing our best. We would be delighted if some tech-savvy member who comes to our meetings in person would like to volunteer to help us with technology for monthly meetings. IF THIS PERSON IS YOU, please email us at nativeplantstucson@gmail.com and identify yourself!
AZNPS Tucson Chapter is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/
Meeting ID: 841 5587 4253
Passcode: 386596
