[Pollinator] urban pollination and food security

[David Inouye]

 > From: Alan Berkowitz <berkowitza at ecostudies.org>
 > Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 14:25:21 -0400
 > To: <environmentalscience at list.nsta.org>
 > Cc: Paige Warren <pswarren at nrc.umass.edu>
 > Subject: Call for articles on education about urban pollination and food
 > security
 >
 > Pollination Services and Food Security in the City
 > CATE Journal, Volume 3
 >
 > We are soliciting articles on pollination ecology, pollination services,
 > and urban community gardens for an upcoming issue of the online
 > peer-reviewed journal, Cities and the Environment (catejournal.org
 > <http://www.catejournal.org/> ) to be published November 2008. We are
 > particularly interested in articles about education and outreach around
 > these topics.
 >
 > Critical ecosystem services provided by pollinators are at risk, with
 > declining populations of both native and non-native bees. More than one
 > third of temperate food crops are dependent on pollination, according to
 > some estimates. Recent work has addressed the potential impacts of loss
 > of pollinators for commercial agriculture. But as urban areas expand and
 > an increasing proportion of the human population lives in cities, the
 > role of pollinators dwelling in urban and suburban areas may likewise
 > become increasingly critical to understand.
 >
 > We aim for this volume of CATE to address a suite of related issues in
 > urban pollinator ecology and community gardening. What roles do
 > pollinators play in urban ecosystems, both for native plant populations
 > and for crop plants grown in private and public gardens, and in nearby
 > farms? Can urban gardens function to support native bees and other
 > pollinators? Community gardens provide affordable, nutritious food
 > sources for many urban residents. What impact might pollinator declines
 > have on community gardens and on the people that use them? And can
 > community gardens contribute to ecological literacy by enhancing
 > understanding of the importance of pollination?
 >
 > We invite contributions to Cities and the Environment (CATE) on these
 > and related issues. Please submit articles by 1 April 2008. For further
 > information, contact Paige Warren (Associate Editor, CATE) at Department
 > of Natural Resources Conservation, UMass-Amherst, ph: 413 545 0061,
 > email: pswarren at nrc.umass.edu.
 > Thank you for your help in letting people know about this exciting
 > opportunity.
 > Alan Berkowitz, Associate Editor, CATE
 > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 > Alan R. Berkowitz, Ph.D.
 > Head of Education
 > Institute of Ecosystem Studies
 > PO Box R (181 Sharon Turnpike)
 > Millbrook, NY 12545
 > Phone: (845) 677-7600 ext. 311 Fax: (845) 677-6455
 > Email: berkowitza at ecostudies.org
 > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *