By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent
22 December 2015
Wild bees in the US have declined in many farming areas according to the first national effort to map their numbers.
The study suggests that between 2008 and 2013, the numbers of wild bees went down across almost a quarter of the US.
The researchers say that the conversion of land to grow corn for biofuels is a key element in the decline.
If the trend continues say the scientists, it could drive up costs and destabilise crop production.
Wild bees play an important role in pollinating many US crops and plants. It's estimated that they contribute around $3bn to the value of agriculture every year.
The pattern we show is consistent with the expansion of corn for ethanol, the reduction of areas around fields that weren't cultivated beforeProf Taylor Ricketts, University of Vermont
In 2014, President Obama issued a memorandum calling for an assessment of the state of honey and wild bees across the US, in the face of an increasing number of threats such as colony collapse disorder.
To map the abundance of wild bees across the country, this model combines a number of databases with expert opinion.
The results show that numbers of wild bees likely declined by 23% between 2008 and 2013 in key agricultural regions in California, the Midwest, in Great Plains states and in the Mississippi river valley.
The study also showed that 39% of US croplands that depend on pollinators are suffering a significant mismatch between the demand for pollination and the supply of bees.
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