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The Very Real Importance of Pollinators with the Xerces Society
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The Very Real Importance of Pollinators
Episode Introduction
In today’s episode, The Very Real Importance of Pollinators, we chat with Jennifer Hopwood and Rae Powers from the Xerces Society about the importance of pollinators in what foods make it to our plate, why European honeybees can't do all of the work, and some ways you can help pollinators at home.
Host Stephanie Barelman
Stephanie Barelman is the founder of the Bellevue Native Plant Society, a midwest motivational speaker surrounding the native plants dialogue, and host of the Plant Native Nebraska Podcast.
Guest Jennifer Hopwood
Jennifer Hopwood is Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and is based in Omaha, Nebraska. She has a master's in entomology from the University of Kansas. She provides resources and training for pollinator and beneficial insect habitat management and restoration in a variety of landscapes. Jennifer is co-author of several books, including Farming with Native Beneficial Insects, Farming with Soil Life, 100 Plants to Feed the Bees, and a roadside revegetation manual.
Guest Rae Powers
Rae Powers is a Pollinator Conservation Specialist with The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Rae works with farmers, ranchers, and others to identify wildlife conservation opportunities and promote pollinator and beneficial insect habitat across landscapes through the Natural Resources Conservation Services. She has a master's in plant ecology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has worked in grassland restoration and management and native plant production.
Episode Sponsors
Today's episode sponsored by Midwest Natives Nursery:
https://www.midwestnativesnursery.com/
https://www.facebook.com/midwestnatives
https://www.instagram.com/midwest_natives_nursery/
Today's episode is also sponsored by Lauritzen Gardens:
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The Plant Native Nebraska podcast can be found on the podcast app of your choice.
Episode Content
Pollination 101
- Male and female structures of plants coming together! You know, very much a birds and the bees scenario here.
- Pollination can happen in very strange ways. Even nature is creative...
- 80-85% plants worldwide need animal-assisted pollination, mostly insects: bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and wasps.
- Pollination is not intentional by pollinators, instead it is a byproduct of pure insect gluttony and opportunistic plants.
Big-Ag and The Little Guys
- Think fruits and veg, oils, spices- most need pollinators, bruh, to the tune of 18 billion dollars...
- Even dairy cattle need insect pollination for their feed, BTW cattle for meat also need to forage. 20 to 30 percent of livestock diets are actually wildflowers and shrubs primarily pollinated by native pollinators. Some examples are legumes like lead plant, milkweeds like common and showy milkweed, snowberry, plum thickets... Imagine that to get really good waygu beef, a farmer had to listen to some conservation hippy first. The irony...
- Potato chips= gift from pollinators. You're welcome.
- Pollinators and insects also provide pest control, keep soil healthy.
Honeybees
- Shelter belts of wildflowers are being removed. Meaning less habitat for native pollinators. At the same time, population is growing and more food needs to be produced. So more honeybees are being brought in. But guess what? They can't do all the work and they can't take the place of every pollinator in North America. Honeybees are efficient but they can't do 100 percent of the work. Let's say it again, they can't do all the work.
Ecosystem Support
- Pollinators support endangered plant species. Example: fringed orchid and hawk moths
- Pollinators support bird populations:
-Especially young birds
-Think grasshoppers, ants, crickets, beetles
-Loggerhead shrike= 70 percent of their diet is insects
-Burrowing owls? They're like your messy sister with a penchant for dung beetles and who therefore also hoards poop with the rest of her trash.
Keystone insects?
- Hear about keystone species? Well, insects are pretty much vital in the same way for ecosystem function
Plants and Pollinator Interactions
- Monarchs and Milkweed
- Bees and their pollen-reared young: golden Alexander, spring beauty, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans
Adult bugs are the pollinators, so help insects reach adulthood! Just do three simple things:
Plant native plants.
Embrace the untidy.
Limit pesticides and herbicides.
Additional content related to this episode:
What makes a plant native?
http://bonap.net/fieldmaps Biota of North America North American Plant Atlas database-select Nebraska
https://bellevuenativeplants.org Bellevue Native Plant Society
native (wild type) vs. nativar/native cultivar (native plant cultivated by humans for desirable characteristics)
On the Web
BONAP aforementioned
BNPS aforementioned
http://www.facebook.com/groups/bellevuenativeplantsociety- BNPS on Facebook
Books & Authors
Rick Darke- The Living Landscape
Douglas Tallamy- Professor and Chair of the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Entomology at the University of Delaware, author of The Living Landscape, Nature's Best Hope, naturalist, and curator of "Homegrown National Park".
Enrique Salmon- Iwigara
Daniel Moerman -Native American Ethnobotany
Heather Holm- https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com
Native Plants of the Midwest
Planting in a Post-Wild World
Jon Farrar's Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska
Additional Resources
- NSA at https://www.plantnebraska.org great articles and downloads
- Xerxes Society- champions of pollinator health
- Native Plant Finder- https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/
Other Local Organizations
- Green Bellevue
- PATH
- Milkweed Matters
- Nebraska Native Plant Society
Listen, rate, and subscribe!
Get some merch! https://plant-native-nebraska.myspreadshop.com/
Find us on Facebook
Visit our homepage https://plant-native-nebraska.captivate.fm
Give us a review on Podchaser! www.podchaser.com/PlantNativeNebraska
Support My Work via Patreon
The Plant Native Nebraska podcast can be found on the podcast app of your choice.
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