Gretchen LeBuhn

The LeBuhn lab focuses on the effects of human induced change on wildlands in California and beyond.  We have used pollinators and plants as models for understanding the key drivers of biodiversity in urban parks, vineyard landscapes, montane meadows and other wildlands.  We have had specific interests in developing cost-efficent monitoring, the role of climate change as well and the effects of urbanization on wildlife.

A second theme in the lab is the development of citizen science.  Gretchen is the director of Great Sunflower Project, the largest citizen science project focused on pollinators in the world.  It is specifically designed to evaluate the effects of landscape change on pollinator service in North America and to provide tools for participants to take conservation actions.

We work in areas as diverse as the northern Sierra Nevada mountains, San Francisco urban parks, Andes of Ecuador and vineyard areas of California.  

Gretchen has a long term project studying the effects of variation in flower phenology on plant reproductive success and the evolution of flowering time. We use Linanthus dichotmous, a plant that flowers during the day north of San Francisco and at night south of San Francisco, as a model system. She just loves botany!

Books and Field Manuals:

• Frey, K. and G. LeBuhn. 2016. The Bee Friendly Garden.  Ten Speed Press. Berkeley, CA.
• LeBuhn, G., S. Droege, E. Connor, B. Gemmill-Herren, and N. Azzu. 2016. Protocol to Detect and Monitor Pollinator Communities: Guidance for Practitioners. UN: Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome, Italy.
• LeBuhn, G. and N. Pugh.  2013.  A Field Guide to the Common Bees of California. UC Press. Berkeley, CA.
• Vaughan, M. M. Shepherd, E. Mader, S. Black and  G. LeBuhn.  2011. Attracting Native Pollinators. The Xerces Society Guide to Conserving North American Bees and Butterflies and Their Habitat.  Storey Press.

Journal Articles:

• Ryan, W.H., Gornish, E.S., Christenson, L., Halpern, S., Henderson, S., LeBuhn, G. and Miller, T.E., 2017. Initiating & Managing Long-Term Data with Amateur Scientists. The American Biology Teacher,  79:28-34.
• LeBuhn, G., E. Connor, M. Brand, J. Coville, K. Devkota, R. Thapa, M. Kasina, R. Joshi, K. Aidoo, P. Kwapong, C. Annoh, P. Bosu, M. Rafique. 2016. Monitoring Pollinators Around the World. In “Pollination Services to Agriculture” ed. Barbara Gemmill-Herren. Routledge.
• *Colloran, B. and G. LeBuhn. 2015. The Benefits of Meadow Restoration for Pollinators. In: T. Root and K. Hall.  Biodiversity in a Changing Climate: Linking Science and Management in Conservation. Univ. of California Press. Berkeley.
• *Potter, A., and LeBuhn, G. 2015. Pollination service to urban agriculture in San Francisco, CA. Urban Ecosystems 18:885-893.
• *Derugin, V. V., Silveira, J. G., Golet, G. H. and LeBuhn, G. 2015. Response of medium- and large-sized terrestrial fauna to corridor restoration along the middle Sacramento River. Restoration Ecology. doi: 10.1111/rec.12286
• LeBuhn, G., Sam Droege, Edward F. Connor, Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Simon G. Potts, Robert L. Minckley, Robert P. Jean et al. 2015. Evidence-based conservation: reply to Tepedino et al. Conservation Biology 29:283-285.
• Hudson, Lawrence N., Tim Newbold, Sara Contu, Samantha LL Hill, Igor Lysenko, Adriana De Palma, Helen RP Phillips (and many others including LeBuhn). 2014. The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts." Ecology and evolution 4, no. 24: 4701-4735.
• Wiggins, A., Bonney, R., Graham, E., Henderson, S., Kelling, S., Littauer, R., LeBuhn, G., Lotts, K., Michener, W., Newman, G., Russell, E., Stevenson, R. & Weltzin, J. 2013.  Data Management Guide for Public Participation in Scientific Research. DataONE: Albuquerque, NM.
• LeBuhn, G., S. Droege, E. Connor and many others. 2013. Detecting insect pollinator declines on regional and global scales. Conservation Biology 1:113-120.
• *Goodman, R. G. LeBuhn, N. Seavy, T. Gardali and J. Bluso-Demers.  2012. Avian body size changes and climate change: warming or increasing variability?  Global Change Biology 1:63-73.

* student author