@article {1588,
	title = {A native ground-nesting bee (Nomia melanderi) sustainably managed to pollinate alfalfa across an intensively agricultural landscape},
	volume = {39},
	year = {2008},
	month = {2008/05//},
	pages = {315 - 323},
	abstract = {The world{\textquoteright}s only intensively managed ground-nesting bee, the alkali bee (Nomia melanderi Cockerell), has been used for >50 years as an effective pollinator of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) grown for seed in the western USA. Across a 240 km(2) watershed in Washington, the 24 most populous of 56 nest sites found were annually surveyed for nesting bees for 8 years. Alkali bees multiplied 9-fold to 17 million females, the largest reported metapopulation of non-social bees. Several sites have remained populous for an unprecedented 50 years. The most populous nesting bed (1.5 ha) grew to 5.3 million nesting females (median = 278 nests/m(2)), the largest bee nesting aggregation ever recorded. This first-ever exhaustive landscape-level survey for any non-social bee reveals that even amid intensive conventional agriculture, a native bee can sustainably multiply to vast numbers, its nesting aggregations persisting for decades},
	keywords = {BEHAVIOR, Halictidae, Megachilidae, NOMIA, POLLINATOR, SEED, SOIL},
	isbn = {0044-8435},
	url = {ISI:000256154100004},
	author = {Cane, J. H.}
}
