BEE-STEWARD: A research and decision-support software for effective land management to promote bumblebee populations

Abstract

The demand for agent-based models to explore the effects of environmental change on pollinator population dynamics is growing. However, models need a simple yet flexible interface to enable adoption by a wide range of stakeholders. We introduce BEE-STEWARD: a research and decision-support software tool, enabling researchers, policymakers, land management advisors and practitioners to predict and compare the effects of bee-friendly management interventions on bumblebee populations over several years. BEE-STEWARD integrates the BEESCOUT and Bumble-BEEHAVE agent-based models of bumblebee behaviour, colony growth and landscape exploration into a user-friendly interface, with reconstructed code, and expanded functionality. Bespoke automatic reports can be created to illustrate how different land management interventions can affect the densities of bumblebees and their colonies over time. BEE-STEWARD could be an important virtual test bed for scientists exploring the impacts of different stressors on bumblebees and used by those with little or no modelling experience, enabling a shared methodology between research, policy and practice.