What is effective pollinator conservation?
Community-driven conservation
Sustainable conservation has to consider human communities. Public support and funding can facilitate a project’s long term success or undermine it. More importantly though, we profess an Ecology for the City paradigm (Pickett et al. 2016), and contend that urban pollinator conservation can benefit community development and bees (Turo and Gardiner 2019, 2020).
How do we meet the needs of both people and pollinators? What kinds of transdisciplinary partnerships, cues-to-care, and communication are critical for effective conservation?
These are questions that we consider whenever we conduct urban pollinator research. We aim to iteratively improve our approach to conservation and community development with each project.
A vision for urban bee habitat
Synthesizing our research into conservation praxis has led us to embrace the following guidelines. We continue to learn and adapt these ideas.
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Collaborate with community members and transdisciplinary partners to co-create a greenspace’s goals
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Incorporate cultural or recreational spaces such as running trails, park benches, or playground equipment
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Consider patch dynamics and situate a new greenspace within close proximity to other, larger greenspaces
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Seed pollinator habitat with native flowers from the surrounding region
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Encourage designated spaces for spontaneous weeds to bloom
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Provide learning opportunities for neighbors to gain a better understanding of these habitat’s value
Can conservation plantings cause ecosystem dis-services?
Best intentions can lead to disastrous outcomes. For this reason, we’ve investigated whether seeded native plantings are reservoirs for invasive pests or disease vectors. To date, we’ve found no evidence that taller grass meadows increase mosquito abundance in cities (Yang et al. 2019)— a concern that some residents express. This work is part of our commitment to effective bee conservation; we aim to anticipate potential ecological pitfalls and address societal concerns.
Asian tiger mosquito
Many mosquitos are urban adapted and thrive in cities. Conservation work needs to balance pest control with beneficial insect promotion.