A. Species
Scientific name: Vaccinium angustifolium
Common name(s): wild blueberry
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Maine
Country/Region: USA
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: 40 blueberry fields across Maine
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2010
End Year: 2012
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from significantly modified habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Cultivation
Lethal or non-lethal: Non-Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: Only parts or products of the organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed and Medicine and hygiene
Motivation of use: Largescale commercial exploitation for trade and Climate Change Nature Based Solution / Adaptation Measure
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: National / local private sector
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from significantly modified habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: authors' opinion based on data in this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: data in this study that show value of wild bees for blueberry farmers and importance of blueberry flowers as food for wild bee species
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: NB: economic sustainability is strongly dependent on market price of blueberries and price (and availability) of honey bees and commercial bumble bees
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: NB: economic sustainability is strongly dependent on market price of blueberries and price (and availability) of honey bees and commercial bumble bees
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: this study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: blueberries high in anti-oxidants
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Authors state: "Our estimates of the percentage of crop value attributable to a given bee group is analogous to a measure of “vulnerability”and indicates vulnerability for both the decline of Wild Bees and the lack of Honey Bees. Farmers wishing to decrease reliance on imported bees could use wild-bee habitat plantings and adjust crop rotation cycles so that larger fields function effectively as smaller fields"
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2023-01-04