For Nature Conservancy entomologist Larry Serpa, it's like having a Serengeti in his own backyard. Except the denizens aren't gazelles, zebras and wildebeests, they're native bees.

“I was stunned when I learned that Pinnacles has 10 percent of the country’s native bee species,” Serpa said. “I wouldn’t have thought it possible for such a relatively small area to have 10 percent of any animal or plant groups — birds, orchids, frogs, ferns, anything.”

Located between the Salinas and Central Valleys, Pinnacles National Monument is home to spectacular rock formations that attract climbers from around the nation. It’s also home to an abundance of indigenous plants and animals. In 2006, the Conservancy protected the 1,967-acre Pinnacles Ranch and transferred it to the National Park Service for inclusion in the monument. The chaparral and grasslands found on the ranch would have been cleared to make way for a residential subdivision.

A Bee of a Different Color

While rock climbers flock to Pinnacles to scale dramatic heights, entomologists like Serpa are drawn in by the spectacular diversity of native pollinators. More than 400 native bee species buzz around Pinnacles’ 26,000 acres. There are black bees and yellow bees; variegated bees, iridescent green bees and bees that glint like burnished bronze. There are fuzzy bees, smooth bees, gumball-size bees and bees no bigger than an anise seed.

Bees favor Pinnacles because of the monument’s wide array of native plants — and vice versa. Unlike non-indigenous honey bees, which are all-inclusive in their food preferences, many native bees target specific plants for pollen and nectar; these plants, in turn, depend on particular bees for pollination.

Some native plants, of course, attract a wide variety of species. Buckwheat bush, for example, is a veritable smorgasbord for indigenous pollinators. When the bush’s papery, off-white blooms fully open, they are swarmed with scores of different species, all avidly burrowing for pollen.

Native bees differ from honey bees in another way: Other than bumblebees, the vast majority of native species eschew colony life. Most feed on wildflowers from late winter to midsummer; the adults then die, and the pupae lie dormant in burrows until the autumn and early winter rains.

A Bee-autiful Future?

Though Pinnacles’ bee populations generally seem robust, their future is clouded. The monument is an island of wildness surrounded by agricultural and grazing land. Residential development is intruding from the north and west. Habitat conversion means the destruction of native plants; and as the plants go, so go the bees.

“This incredible bee diversity must be protected,” said Serpa. “Pinnacles can’t stand alone as an island. If surrounding lands are developed, the wealth of Pinnacles’ bee species will slowly drain away.”

Scientists say the bees’ future can be secured through cooperative agreements with neighboring ranchers. Hedgerows, conservation reserve areas and even plantings of native plants could help keep Pinnacles well-stocked with bees.

“The monument is within the borders of our Mount Hamilton Project, an area that covers 1.2 million acres,” Serpa said. “We know it will be difficult to protect it all — but we must ensure that enough of the critical lands are used in ways that will benefit native pollinators.”

Right now The Nature Conservancy is targeting more properties around the monument for protection through acquisition or conservation easements. In addition to Pinnacles Ranch, in recent years we’ve protected 12,000-acre Gabilan Ranch, which lies north of the monument and provides bees, condors and other Pinnacles roamers room to move. Such connectivity is crucial to long-lasting conservation success.

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Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Larry Serpa/TNC (Larry Serpa netting a stuffed bee); Photo © Larry Serpa/TNC (Solitary bee)