NJ Envirothon 2014 Current Issue:

Sustainable Local Agriculture/Locally Grown

Presented by Kelly Gill Pollinator Conservation Specialist, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Partner Biologist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Learning Objective 5:

Knowledge of the role pollinators

play in farming and ways to attract

them

Study Guides:

• Sustaining Native Bee Habitat For

Crop Pollination

• Native Bee Benefits

NJ Envirothon 2014 Current Issue

Photo: Nancy Lee Adamson

Why Care About Pollinators?

Photo: Matthew Shepherd

What is pollination?

Pollination is the transfer

of pollen grains from the

anther to stigma of the

same or another flower

Photo: Steve Javorek, Agriculture Canada

Pollination: A Quick Reivew

Insect Pollinators: Ecological Keystone

More than 80 percent of

flowering plants (~240,000 sp.)

require an insect to move pollen.

Photo: Eric Mader

Benefits to wildlife

• Pollinator-produced fruits

and seeds comprise 25%

of bird and mammal diets

• Pollinators are food for

wildlife (e.g. 89% of birds

feed on insects)

• Pollinator habitat is

compatible with the needs

of other wildlife, such as

songbirds

USDA-NRCS

© Sierra Vision Stock

© NRCS Jeff Vanuga

Photo: Kelly GiIl

Insect Pollinators: Ecological Keystone

Pollinators provide an ecosystem service that

enables plants to produce fruits and seeds.

• 35% of crop production, worldwide

• $18 to $27 billion worth of crops in U.S. ($217

billion worldwide)

• One in three mouthfuls of food and drink we

consume, and most of our nutrients

Pollination and Human Nutrition

Photo: USDA-ARS/Peggy Greb

Morse RA, Calderone NW. 2000. The value of honey bees as pollinators of U.S. crops in 2000. Bee Culture 128: 1–15.

Klein et al. 2007. Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proc. R. Soc. B 274: 303-313.

Photo: USDA-ARS/Peggy Greb

Pollination and Human Nutrition

Photo: Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods With Bee-Pollinated Crops

Photo: Whole Foods Market

...and Without Bee-Pollinated Crops

Photos: James Cane; Jeff Adams; Dana Ross; Bruce Newhouse

Main Groups of Pollinators

Photos: Mace Vaughan, Bob Hammond, David Inouye, Bruce Newhouse

Photo: Nancy Adamson

Bees: The Most Important Pollinators

• Collect and transport pollen

• Forage in area around nest

• Flower constancy

Photo: Robert W. Matthews, University of Georgia; Bugwood.org

Honey Bees Are Not Typical Bees

Reliant on a single pollinator

experiencing many problems

• 50% decline in managed hives

since 1950

• Disease, pests, genetics

• HABITAT LOSS

Photo: USDA-ARS/Scott Bauer

Honey Bee Declines

Varroa mite

(Varroa destructor )

Native Bee Diversity

Photo: Rollin Coville

North America: 4,000 species

East: ~700 species

New Jersey: ~400 species

Photos: David Cappaert; Mace Vaughan; Rollin Coville; Edward S. Ross

Recognizing Bee Diversity

Photos: Bruce Newhouse; Edward S. Ross; Rollin Coville; USDA-ARS/Jack Dykinga

Recognizing Bee Diversity

Photo: Stephen L. Buchmann

Recognizing Bee Diversity

Photo: USDA-ARS

Contribution of Native Bees to Crop Pollination:

80+ species visit berry crops in New England

100+ species visit apples in NY and PA

100+ species visit blue berries in MI

100+ species visit cranberries in WI

60+ species visit tomato, sunflower, watermelon in CA

Bee Diversity = Sustainable Pollination

Bee Diversity = Sustainable Pollination

Photos: Nancy Adamson

• Once common bumble bees in

the Eastern U.S.

• Now gone from most of its

historic range

• The decline may be caused by

a pathogen introduced from

commercially reared bumble

bee colonies

Images: Johanna James-Heinz and The Xerces Society

Pocket identification guides

available

For more information, visit:

www.xerces.org/bumble-bee-

citizen-monitoring/

Rusty Patched Bumble Bee

Yellow Banded Bumble Bee

Bumble Bee Declines

Photo: Paramount Farms

Even as bees decline, crop acreage

requiring bee pollination grows

• 300% increase in global cropland

requiring bee pollination since 19601

1 Aizen MA, LA Garibaldi, SA Cunningham, AM Klein. 2008. Long-term global trends in crop yield

and production reveal no current pollination shortage but increasing pollinator dependency.

Current Biology 18:1572-1575.

Pollination and Crop Security

Three Broad Groups of Native Bees

Photos: Mace Vaughan, Rollin Coville, Elaine Evans

Bumble Bees (social)

Tunnel-

Nesting

Bees

(primarily

solitary)

Ground-Nesting Bees

(primarily solitary)

Photos: Dennis Briggs

Life Cycle of a Solitary Bee

Mining bee (Andrena sp.): a year

in its underground nest as egg,

larva, and pupa before emerging to

spend a few weeks as an adult.

70% of native bee species

• Resemble ant-nests from above

• Often on exposed ground

• Sandy to loam soils preferred

but some will nest in clay too

Ground Nesting Solitary Bees

Photos: Eric Mader, Jim Cane, Matthew Shepherd, and Jennifer Hopwood

Photos: Mace Vaughan

Reduce disturbance

• Tillage

• Traffic

Limit obstructions

• Landscape fabric

• Thick mulch layers

Provide and Protect Nest Sites

Photo: Mace Vaughan (Xerces Society)

Nest Sites: Ground Nesting Bees

Photos: Edward Ross, Darrin O’Brien, Matthew Shepherd

30% of native bee species

• Nest in hollow or pithy plant stems,

beetle borer holes, man-made

cavities

• Nest tunnel partitions constructed of

mud, leaf pieces, or sawdust

Nest Sites: Tunnel Nesting Bees

Hollow stem example:

Silk cocoons with dormant bees inside Mud cap closure

Larva Pupa Adult

Pollen mass Egg Mud wall

Cross-section of silk cocoons

Nest Sites: Tunnel Nesting Bees

Protect cavity nests

• Protect snags wherever

possible

• Plant / maintain woody shrubs

or plants with pithy stems

(boxelder, elderberry, cane

berries, etc.)

Provide and Protect Nest Sites

Bumble Bees (Social)

Photos: Elaine Evans, Nancy Adamson

45 species in U.S.

• Social colonies founded by single queen

• Annual, last only one season

• Nest may contain 25-400 workers

• Nests in abandoned rodent burrows or

under lodged grasses

Photos: Anne Berblinger; Mace Vaughan

Life Cycle of a Bumble Bee Colony

Winter: Hibernating queen

Spring: Queen

establishes

nest and lays

eggs

Summer: Colony peak

Early Fall:

Males

leave nest,

then new

queens

leave to

find a mate

Fall: Mated queens

seek overwintering

sites, founding

queen dies

Illustration: David Wysotski

Early

Summer:

Worker

females help

grow the

colony

Photos: Mace Vaughan, Matthew Shepherd, Bonnie Carruthers

Protect bumble bee nests

• Maintain field borders

• Un-mown areas

• Establish bunch grasses

• Conserve brush piles

Provide and Protect Nest Sites

Photo: Kelly Gill

Plant selection criteria

• Bloom throughout the year

• Abundant pollen and nectar

• Preferred by bees

• Native vs. non-native

• Create large blocks of flowers

Plant and Protect Forage Patches

Photos: Elaine Haug NRCS, Matthew Shepherd; Mace Vaughan, Eric Mader, Jeff McMillan NRCS, Berry Botanic Garden, Nancy Adamson

maple

(Acer)

false indigo

(Baptisia)

goldenrod

(Solidago)

willow

(Salix)

mountain mint

(Pycnanthemum)

aster

(various genera) blazing star

(Liatris)

Pollinators need a succession of bloom: spring, summer, and fall

Forage Patches: Bloom Period

Photos: Derek Ramsey, Julie Anne Workman, Valerie Chansiquad, C T Johansson, Scott Seigfreid

Forage Patches: Spring Bee Plants

Photos: Sarah Foltz Jordan, Kelly Gill, Nancy Adamson

Forage Patches: Summer Bee Plants

Photos: Scott Seigfreid, Nancy Adamson, Kelly Gill, Jose Luis Galvez

Forage Patches: Fall Bee Plants

Native trees / shrubs

• Pussy willow

• Red maple

• Hawthorn

• Blueberry

• Basswood

• Raspberry

• Viburnum

• Elderberry

• New Jersey Tea

Photo: Mace Vaughan

Forage Patches: Woody Plants

Non-native plants

• Red clover

• White clover

• Alfalfa

• Buckwheat

• Basil

• Borage

• Hairy vetch

• Catmint

• Cosmos

• Annual sunflower

• Oregano

• Russian sage

• Siberian squill

Photos: Mace Vaughan, Eric Mader, Nancy Non-native bee plants clover

Forage Patches: Garden Plants

Photos: Adam Varenhorst

Forage Patches: Butterfly Host Plants

Photos: Mace Vaughan, Paul Jepson, Mario Ambrosino

Conservation Biological Control

• Many of the same flowering

plants that support pollinators

also support predatory and

parasitic insects.

Syrphid fly drinking

raspberry nectar

Soldier beetle

Parasitoid wasp

Ladybird beetle

Forage Patches: Many Beneficial Insects

Forage Patches: Native Plants Are Best

Garden varieties can look pretty but

may offer little or no nectar or pollen.

Photo: Matthew Shepherd

Pesticides cause significant

damage to pollinator insect

populations

• Avoid use

• Use active ingredients with least

impact on bees

• Consider formulation

• Label guidelines only apply to

honey bees

• Don’t spray on plants in bloom

• Spray at night and when dry

Protecting Pollinators from Insecticides

*

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/

abstract.php?seriesno=PNW+591

• Also used on ornamental

plants, and lawns

• Level of application is much

greater than on crops (up to

120x), which increases the risk

to pollinators

• Avoid use on pollinator-visited

plants in yards, parks (e.g.

maple trees, linden trees,

roses, etc)

• Check with your nursery to

make sure perennial plants you

purchase have not been

treated with neonicotinoids

Photo: Matthew Shepherd

Protecting Pollinators from Insecticides

Organic-Approved Pesticides?

• Pyrethrins = Dangerous for Bees!

• Spinosad = Dangerous for Bees!

• Beauveria bassiana = Dangerous!

Okay when not directly applied to

bees (i.e. non-blooming crops or

at night):

• Insecticidal soap

• Horticultural oil

• Neem

Photo: NRCS/Toby Alexander

Protecting Pollinators from Insecticides

Photo: Gary Casabona

Forage Patches: Pollinator Meadows

Photos: Joe Fahey and Don Keirstead

Forage Patches: Wildflower Strips

Photo: Rachel Long (UC Davis, Coop Ext.)

Forage Patches: Pollinator Hedgerow

Forage Patches: Gardens

Forage Patches: Urban Meadows

More information: www.xerces.org

Photo: Nancy Lee Adamson

Take Action: Bring Back the Pollinators

www.xerces.org

Contact information:

Kelly Gill, Kelly@xerces.org