Article by Nikki Henger, Forestry Program Coordinator, St. Croix River Association
Image from Pixabay
Managing your woodlands for timber or wildlife? What about for pollinators, who we depend on for food and a healthy ecosystem? Pollinators such as bees carry pollen from one plant to another, fertilizing them so they can produce fruit or seeds. About 75% of the world’s major food crops require or benefit from pollinators. A lot of these pollinators rely on woodlands for nourishment through flowering trees, shelter and nesting habitat via snags, sticks and leaves, and protection against the increasing concrete jungle. Effective conservation of our woodlands should be a priority, especially for bee conservation. One study found that woods are the most important habitat for supporting a diversity of rarer bees (1).
Honeybees (Apis mellifera), which help our agricultural crops, tend to be most people’s first thought when thinking about pollinators—but they are actually a non-native bee. In Minnesota, there are around 400 known native bee species and thousands more around the U.S. Other pollinators include birds, bats, and other insects that all play a critical part in our ecosystem.
Sadly, our honeybees and other pollinators have been declining since 2006 due to habitat loss and fragmentation, loss of food sources, use of general pesticides, climate change, disease, and parasites. A handful of Minnesota insect pollinator species are listed at the federal and state levels as threatened and endangered species (2). Private landowners can play a major part in helping our native pollinators by managing your backyard differently, and in most cases, it makes management easier for you!
What you can do for pollinators:
Protecting woodlands and planting trees such as oak, willows, and other native plants can help our pollinators, which are keystone species in our ecosystem (a keystone species is a species in which the ecosystem is largely dependent on). For people with large acres of woodlands, becoming a woodland steward and having a plan for your woods can help protect our pollinators and secure our food supply and wildlife diversity. To get started, contact a DNR forester who helps with woodland assistance.
Flowers are important to pollinators, but trees are just as important. For example, the willow tree hosts around 355 pollinators followed by trees in the Prunus genus (cherry, chokecherry, peach, and plum) which hosts 399. Flowers like goldenrod host around 88 different pollinators as you can see from the table below. (Numbers taken from the Native Plant Finder website)
Pollinators also need water and shelter. Planting a diversity of native trees and flowers, while providing a clean water source, can help create a stable habitat. One easy way is to put marbles in birdbaths so bees have a safe place to drink. Also, be careful with the chemicals that you use on your lawn. Some pesticides and herbicides are toxic to pollinators or kill their food sources. If you do need to use pesticides and herbicides, be sure to read the label and apply according to direction.
Another helpful management tactic is to take your time with spring cleaning! Our native pollinators love to nest in dead leaves and hollow sticks. Waiting to rake and tidy up your yard and participating in #NoMowMay allows bees to properly hibernate and wake up to a lawn full of food. Controlling for invasive species can also help native pollinators. Invasive plants such as buckthorn and honeysuckle can blanket the forest floor and suppress spring ephemerals. Check out your local native nurseries and the resources provided below for more information on how you can help pollinators. If you have questions or would like to share how you have been helping pollinators in your yard, please feel free to email us at info@mnnwwn.org
Image from Native Trees and Shrubs for Pollinators Poster
Resources:
List of Native plant suppliers, landscapers, and restoration consultants for Minnesota (last updated in 2016): mndnr.gov/gardens/nativeplants/suppliers.html
Native Plant Finder-Enter zip to see how many pollinators a tree support (for example, oak trees support 389 different pollinators: nwf.org/NativePlantFinder
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is a nonprofit that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats: xerces.org
Plant lists for bees and pollinators: www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/plant-lists--posters.html
Lawns to Legumes: Your Yard Can BEE the Change (may have future funding for homeowners to develop pollinator gardens in priority areas): bwsr.state.mn.us/l2l