Pollinators and Citizen Science

Welcome!

Have you ever looked at insects buzzing busily around flowers and been fascinated? Ever wanted to know more about what was going on in a garden, or a field of flowers? If the world of pollinators strikes your interest, then you're on the right site! Here we will explore what pollinators are, what they do, and how you can interact with and better appreciate your own local pollinators!

What is a Pollinator?

When you think of pollinators, I'm willing to bet that the first images that come to your head are bees, butterflies, and possibly hummingbirds. These are all correct, but the true extent of the word "pollinator" is much greater! Pollinators are organisms that transport pollen from one flower to another, fertilizing the flowers and helping them reproduce. Pollinators typically do this in order to drink the sugary nectar tucked away inside the flower. These include such critters as moths, wasps, beetles, hoverflies, and bats. Many common pollinators can fly, as this makes traveling from flower to flower much easier. However, notable flightless pollinators include lemurs, the adorable honey possum, and even people! If you've ever finished walking through a flowery field and found pollen all over your clothes, chances are you did some unintentional pollinating! Additionally, the wind often helps with pollinating, and when it comes to plants without flowers, like pine trees, it can be crucial.

Tiger Swallowtail (Butterfly)

Longhorn Beetle

Wasp

Hoverfly

Hummingbird

Black and White Ruffed Lemur

Bat

Common Clearwing (Hummingbird Moth)

Honey Possum

What is the significance of Pollination?

After flowers are pollinated, they become fruits! Thus the pollinators are vital to a significant amount of fruit production. Domestic pollinators like honeybees are necessary for the production of 90 food crops in the U.S., and its native pollinators like bumblebees are valued at about 9 billion dollars. Of the top 115 global food crops, 87 require pollination, constituting 35% of global food production. However, while 1/3 of food crops are dependent on pollinators, 75% of food crops benefit in some way. Interestingly, many grasses, including those like corn, wheat, and oats, use wind rather than insects to pollinate, and as such do not rely heavily on pollinators. To see how important pollinators are for your favorite produce, check out the graphic below!

The role of pollination in agriculture is only a human benefit however. Pollination is hugely valuable for increasing biodiversity, as increased flower diversity directly leads to increased pollinator biodiversity, and as insects and other pollinators diversify and speciate, so will their predators. Thus, by increasing biodiversity at the bottom of the food chain, this leads to further increases higher up.

What threats do pollinators face?

Habitat loss: By replacing grasslands and forests with urban development, cornfields, and the like, there is less space for flowers and their pollinators.

Increased use of pesticides: Increased use of pesticides, besides killing insects outright, can toxify the soil and water, spreading these toxins throughout the whole environment, killing many organisms other than the intended pests.

Introduction of invasive species: Invasive species, such as the European honeybee (in the U.S.) often outcompete native pollinators like bumblebees, reducing their populations and the biodiversity of the community as a whole. This can hurt flowers which rely on specific pollinator interactions.

Climate Change: Increasing temperatures due to climate change are causing more extreme weather events and are allowing some parasites and the diseases they carry to increase their range northward into climates that were once too cold for them. Conversely, pollinators that prefer cold temperatures like bumblebees may be driven northward into ecosystems they haven't adapted to, possibly becoming invasive themselves.

How Citizen Science can help pollinators

While the task of aiding pollinators may sound like something meant for resourceful scientists and governments, anyone can help! Through Citizen Science, citizens can acquire valuable information and data about the natural world and share it with others who have the tools to analyze it. There are many means to this end, and I have chosen to discuss the simplest methods in order to demonstrate that anyone can get involved. These methods include using apps and websites to monitor pollinator populations, and I'll start by listing popular apps and websites! For each source provided, click on the associated image to visit either their website or a short video on how to use the resource

Insight is an app only available on IOS (Apple, not Android) which allows the user to identify more well known pollinators, from bees and wasps to butterflies. It is not as versatile as Seek and iNaturalist, but if someone wishes to focus on these well known pollinators to avoid being overwhelmed, the app will do the job well!

iNaturalist is an incredibly versatile and simple app, being able to identify anything from a frog to a lichen! What you observe is uploaded online, after which the knowledge of that species' location is shared with the scientific community. There is also a website version, iNaturalist.org, in which one can upload images to achieve similar results to the app.

Seek is very much like iNaturalist, only you do not have to share the species information online. The app is simpler and meant primarily to be used by children, as it was developed with their privacy concerns in mind. Great for classrooms!

Bumblebeewatch.org: If you truly just love bumblebees above all other pollinators, this is the site for you. With this site, you simply create an account, and from there you can upload any bumblebee photos you take to their site, let them know where the photo was taken, and await verification from an expert!

Where to find pollinators in your area

Now here's the fun part: how to apply what you've learned so you can go out and find some fascinating pollinators for yourself! You can always look up forest preserves and nature centers near you, but the search results might not get everything. A very easy way to learn exactly what greenspaces are near you is to go on google maps or a similar application, enter your address as a starting point, then explore your region for greenspaces and forest preserves. These are labeled as such, and on google maps, are made green to contrast with the grey that signifies developed areas. Exploring this map, you will be able to see just how many parks and forests you can explore. These are great places to try out some new apps and do some citizen science!

Above I have demonstrated this process, having provided a Google My Maps of nature preserves I frequent in the spring and summer. You are encouraged to add to the map any interesting locations you have found/visited on your own!

Above all else, my hope is that you now have an increased understanding and appreciation of pollinators, both in terms of what they are and their many benefits. If you want to test your pollinator knowledge, don't forget to go out for yourself and see what nature as to offer in your neighborhood! Also, if you decide to go out and look for some pollinators, it would be greatly appreciated if you'd return to this site and take a quick survey about what pollinators you saw and where you saw them: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJgm2X9DL1-XVWOM9bBPjSx7tO4XQRutIZqWKO647SHYfT1A/viewform

Thanks for dropping by!

References

What is a pollinator:

“What Is a Pollinator?” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2018, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/pollinators/what-is-a-pollinator.htm

Boland, Kate. “10 Unusual Plant Pollinators from the Animal Kingdom.” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 13 Apr. 2020, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-unusual-plant-pollinators-from-the-animal-kingdom.html.

Pollinator Benefits

Office of the Press Secretary. “Fact Sheet: The Economic Challenge Posed by Declining Pollinator Populations.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, 2014, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/fact-sheet-economic-challenge-posed-declining-pollinator-populations/#:~:text=Economic%20Importance%20of%20Pollinators%3A%20Insect%20pollination%20is%20integral,animal%20pollinators%2C%20contributing%2035%25%20of%20global%20food%20production.

Ritchie, Hannah. “How Essential Are Pollinators for Global Food Security?” World Economic Forum, World Economic Forum, 2021, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/how-essential-are-pollinators-for-global-food-security/

Pollinator Threats

“Major Threats to Pollinators.” Project Dragonfly, 14 Dec. 2020, https://projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu/great-pollinator-project/conservation/major-threats-to-pollinators/#:~:text=Major%20Threats%20to%20Pollinators%201%20Habitat%20Loss%2C%20Degradation%2C,the%20plants%20that%20depend%20upon%20them%20for%20reproduction.

“Pollinators in Trouble.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2018, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/pollinators/pollinators-in-trouble.htm.

How Citizen Science can help Pollinators

“The Mobile App That Lets Citizens Engage in Pollinator Research & Conservation.” Insight Citizen Science, Pollinator Partnership & Border Free Bees , 2018, https://insightcitizenscience.com/.

‌How to Make an Observation on iNaturalist using our Mobile App (2018). www.youtube.com. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from How to Make an Observation on iNaturalist using our Mobile App - YouTube

Nature Around Us: How to Use the SEEK App (2020) www.youtube.com. Retrieved April 16 2022, from Nature Around Us: How to Use the SEEK App - YouTube

“Welcome to Bumble Bee Watch.” Bumble Bee Watch, Bumble Bee Watch, https://www.bumblebeewatch.org/.

Photos:

“Eastern Tiger Swallowtail” by audreyjm529 is marked with CC BY 2.0

“Hoverfly” by zund, is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

"Beetle Pollinator?" by Pictoscribe - is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

"Humingbird on a Red Bird of Paradise Flower" by Sharon in Llano is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

"Hummingbird Moth" by photofarmer is marked with CC BY 2.0.

"wasp with orange abdomen, on butterflyweed" by Martin LaBar is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0.

"Black and white Ruffed Lemur" by Mathias Appel is marked with CC0 1.0.

"Deforestation" by crustmania is marked with CC BY 2.0.

"Farmer spreading pesticides for onion" by IWMI Flickr Photos is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.