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Ashley Carver, John O'Dell, Jake Torok
Meet The Team!
Ashley Carver
Ashley Carver
Hi everyone! My name is Ashley and I am majoring in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and minoring in Applied Statistics. In the future I hope to work with analyzing environmental data.
Jake Torok
Jake Torok
Hi! My name is Jake, I am majoring in Natural Resource Management with a double minor in Biology and Environmental & Sustainability Studies. I currently work for a non-profit called H.O.P.E. Gardens whose mission is to open school gardens in the city of Wyoming and teach students how to grow their own food. After graduation I want to help start community gardens and fight climate change on a local scale.
John O'Dell
John O'Dell
Hi! I'm majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Biology with certificates in Sustainable Food Systems and Applied Anthropology. I work as a food access assistant at the Fulton Street Farmers Market and hope to work with sustainable food accessibility in the future.
The Pollination Process
Pollination occurs when pollen grains are transferred from a male anther to a female stigma. Flower species rely on a vector to move pollen and promote their reproduction. These vectors include natural factors such as wind and water, but also include pollinators.
Pollinators consist of birds, bats, beetles, butterflies, and moths; however, the most important of all pollinators are bees! Bees deliberately leave their hives on a mission to gather pollen to bring back for their offspring. According to the Xerces Society, bees practice a behavior known as flower constancy, where they remain loyal to visiting one plant species throughout their foraging trip. During one foraging trip, a female bee will visit hundreds of flowers-- the whole time working to transfer pollen. Unlike bees that visit flowers for the purpose of collecting pollen, other pollinators such as beetles, butterflies, wasps, and moths visit flowers to feed on nectar. These pollinators just happen to transfer pollen between flowers while their sole goal is to consume food.
The Importance of Pollinators: A Perspective From Different Scales
Global Level
Global Level
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately three-fourths of the world's flowering plants, as well as 35 percent of the world's food crops, depend on pollinators for their reproduction. Plants in urban settings are found to be more pollen-limited than similar plants in other landscapes, due to the reduced biodiversity in urbanized areas. Impacts of urbanization on biodiversity are most severe in tropical regions, but other ecosystems face substantial losses as well (Maruyama et al., 2021). Single-pollinator plants are most affected by decreased biodiversity in all land-use types, so plants that can be pollinated by several species are more adapted for urban environments (Bennett et al., 2020).
National Level
National Level
In the United States, more than 150 crops depend on pollinators for production, almost all of which being fruits and grains. The USDA estimated that all of the crops reliant on pollinators account for approximately $10 billion per year. Pollinators help ensure that we have access to healthy and diverse diets. Approximately one-third of the U.S food supply comes from pollinators (Blaylock & Richards, 2009).
Local Level
Local Level
On a local level pollinators are vitally important to the health and wellbeing of any local garden and farming operation, most plants are completely reliant on pollinators to assist in the transfer of pollen from a male to a female flower for reproduction. Without pollinators, most of the crops and plants (including flowers, vegetables, and fruit species) that we rely on would be unable to reproduce, and in turn could seize to exist all together. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, pollinating insects visit flowers for food, mates, shelter, and nest-building materials (Pollinators, USDA).
Additionally, pollinators are responsible for the pollination of approximately 35% of the world’s crops, meaning that without them, humans would not have enough food to survive (Humans for Survival, 2022). On a local level, our pollinators help ensure the sustainability and dependability of urban food systems including community gardens, local farms, and school & educational gardens, such as the Grand Valley State University Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP).
The Overall Issue
Worldwide Declining Pollinator Populations
Worldwide Declining Pollinator Populations
The fact of the matter is that pollinator populations are declining all across the world. According to the Department of Entomology at Penn State University, this unfortunate scenario is due to various interconnected factors consisting of habitat fragmentation, pesticide use, climate change, and the spreading of emergent pathogens, parasites, and predators. Within the U.S, beekeepers have continually lost approximately 30% of their colonies every year since 2006. Managed pollinator species such as honey bees are facing this decline because of their exposure to pesticide use. Honey bees are also declining because of their loss of floral abundance and diversity due to increased land use.
The above infographic displays potential threats to pollinator populations around the world.
How Can You Help Pollinators?
According to the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service you can...
Plant a Pollinator Garden
Plant a Pollinator Garden
Almost any green space can be transformed into a habitat that sustains pollinators. This space can be a large plot of land or even just a flower pot placed on your balcony. In order to attract a variety of pollinators at the greatest abundance, a diversity of nectar and pollen sources must be planted.
Sedum aka "Stonecrops"
Sedum aka "Stonecrops"
Sedums thrive on low-maintenance and flower during early summer to late fall, the whole time attracting bees. There are many varieties of sedum, making it easy to find a variety that will grow in your home's climate.
Milkweed
Milkweed
Milkweed flowers produce a lot of nectar, while simultaneously emitting an attractive scent to drawn in pollinators. Milkweed also produce pollen grains stuck together in a waxy sack, something botanists refer to as a pollinium.
Limit Pesticide Use
Limit Pesticide Use
When battling weeds in your garden, pesticide use should be your last resort. Before turning to using pesticides, put on some gloves and try to...
manually remove any sight of pests from your plants.
Use mechanical controls such as machine tilling, aerating, cutting, or digging.
Incorporate clean weed and insect free mulch into your garden.
Grow organically to encourage native pest predators such as lacewings and lady beetles to keep the pests in check.
Implementation Plan: How can the SAP Promote Pollinators?
Dedicate a Field to Acting as a Pollinator Garden
Dedicate a Field to Acting as a Pollinator Garden
We suggest that the SAP dedicates a field solely to pollinator promotion. Not only would the bees from the six colonies currently at the SAP benefit from this field, more wild bees would be attracted as well. To do so, a variety of pollinator attracting plants would need to be planted.
According to Michigan State University’s Department of Entomology, the five following Michigan-native plants are the most effective at attracting pollinators in the state of Michigan:
Culver's Root
Culver's Root
Just one of these plants has dozens of densely packed flowers that bees can land on. They reach up to 5 feet in height, making for some of the tallest plants that would be planted in the field. These plants would be some of the most visible from the furthest distance from the field!
Penstemon
Penstemon
Penstemon are effective in attracting not only bees, but also butterflies and hummingbirds. These plants are also tall, adding height to the arrangement of flowers in the field. Usually, these flowers are a shade of lavender; however, their colors can also be pale pinks and blues, and even white. Planting these flowers in the field would certainly bring color to the field at the SAP!
Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Milkweed
These flowers, as previously mentioned on our webpage, give off a pleasing vanilla scent that attracts pollinators. They appear as a bunch of tiny pink blossoms bundled together. So not only would these plants add visually appealing pink flowers to the field, they would also add a lovely smell!
Yellow Coneflower
Yellow Coneflower
These flowers consist of bright yellow petals that surround a green center. They are effective in attracting both bees and butterflies. Another plus for coneflowers is their ability to easily grow and that they are drought-tolerant. These plants would be some of the most easily maintained on the field!
Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster
Smooth aster is effective in attracting bees. The petals on this plant are a pretty shade of purple or blue. These plants would make up some of the shorter flowers in the field, but would add to the beautiful aesthetic of the field nonetheless!
Pollinator Steward Certification
Pollinator Steward Certification
Pollinator Partnership (P2), a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting pollinator health through conservation, education, and research, offers a certification program to land managers, organizations, and communities. Having certification as a pollinator steward demonstrates having a science-based understanding of pollinators while also helping you gain more knowledge regarding how to help pollinators. This certification also suggests that someone has effectively used their knowledge of pollinators towards educating others and constructing a successful habitat.
At the SAP...
We suggest that the SAP's farm manager as well as their leading intern consider looking into getting certified as a pollinator steward.
We recommend that GVSU's Office of Sustainability Practices offers some sort of scholarship for students at GVSU to become certified as pollinator stewards.
The Triple Bottom Line is a framework for considering more than just the capitalistic gains of an action or decision, but to value the Three P's:
People, Planet, and Prosperity.
Triple Bottom Line
Triple Bottom Line
PEOPLE
Pollinators are the backbone to a healthy and sustainable food system
PLANET
Globally, pollinators help keep the food web and ecosystems functionable
PROSPERITY
With access to a sustainable and obtainable food system, people will be more inclined and able to care for their planet and their communities.
Timeline
March: Start planning implementation strategy, determine funding needs, etc.
May: Build and set up beehives near gardens, plant native flowers and other pollinator food sources
June: Finish beehive development and planting
July-October: Maintain planted area and beehives, harvest honey at end of season
Budget
$300.00 (New Honeybee Hives, Frames)
$125.00 (1X Nuc of Honeybees)
$150.00 (15X Wildflower Seed packets at $10 a packet)
________________________________________________
$450 Total
Sources:
Sources:
https://www.fws.gov/initiative/pollinators/how-you-can-help
https://ento.psu.edu/research/centers/pollinators/resources-and-outreach/disappearing-pollinators
Pollinators. USDA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.usda.gov/pollinators
What would happen if pollinators disappeared? – Humans For Survival. (2022). Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.humansforsurvival.org/what-would-happen-if-pollinators-disappeared/
https://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/
https://witl.com/five-michigan-plants-to-bring-all-the-bees-to-the-yard/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/importance.shtml
Richards, T. H., & Blaylock, I. T. (2009). Honey bees: Colony collapse disorder and pollinator role in ecosystems. Nova Science Publishers Incorporated.
https://www.xerces.org/endangered-species/wild-bees
Bennett, J. M., Steets, J. A., Burns, J. H., Burkle, L. A., Vamosi, J. C., Wolowski, M., Arceo-Gómez, G., Burd, M., Durka, W., Ellis, A. G., Freitas, L., Li, J., Rodger, J. G., Ştefan, V., Xia, J., Knight, T. M., & Ashman, T.-L. (2020). Land use and pollinator dependency drives global patterns of pollen limitation in the anthropocene. Nature Communications, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17751-y
Maruyama, P., Silva, J., Gomes, I., Bosenbecker, C., Cruz-Neto, O., Oliveira, W., Cardoso, J., Stewart, A., & Lopes, A. (2021). A global review of urban pollinators and implications for maintaining pollination services in tropical cities. https://doi.org/10.32942/osf.io/bpyvd
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