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<b>Hot Springs Star (Hot Springs South Dakota) <br><br>
<a href="http://www.hotspringsstar.com/articles/2008/07/08/hot_springs/local_columns/column81.txt" eudora="autourl">
http://www.hotspringsstar.com/articles/2008/07/08/hot_springs/local_columns/column81.txt<br>
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</a>Pollinators are important in the world<br><br>
</b><i>By Kory Bossert, Natural Resources Conservation Service</i>
<br><br>
For most Americans, pollen means allergies and bees mean stingsbut to
farmers, when one out of every three bites of food people take is made
possible by a pollinator - bees and pollen mean much more.<br><br>
Pollinators play a tremendous economic role. The problem is, too many
people see the pollination process as a free service from nature; most
people don’t know the unprecedented threats facing wild and managed
pollinators worldwide.<br><br>
Pollinators are an important part of on-farm biodiversity. They help
maintain diverse plant communities that provide food for wildlife and
provide pollination for approximately 70 percent of crops worldwide.
Farmers in the U.S. rely upon insect pollinators to produce a wide
variety of fruits and vegetables including apples, almonds, berries,
cherries, cucumbers, melons, squash, and sunflowers.<br><br>
In the U.S., this represents 15 to 30 percent of the foods we consume,
including the indirect products such as milk from cows fed on
alfalfa.<br><br>
Pollinators are particularly important to fruit, vegetable, and nut
growers with crops valued in the billions. California producers rent half
a million bee hives a year for almond trees alone.<br><br>
Although experiencing a decline in numbers, honey bees are the most
important pollinators for working farms. Managed honey bee colonies have
shrunk by 25 percent since 1990, and there are fewer bee hives now in the
United States than at any time in the past 50 years.<br><br>
However, native bees may be able to take up some of the deficit as they
already exist on most farms and also contribute to current crop yields
thereby providing an insurance policy for farmers pollination
needs.<br><br>
For more than a decade, biologists have documented declines in
populations of migratory pollinators including butterflies, bats, and
birds. Habitat loss and excessive exposure to agrichemicals, as well as
spread of diseases, parasitic mites, invasion of Africanized honey bees,
and elimination of government subsidies for beekeepers are most often
mentioned for what has been called an impending pollination
crisis.<br><br>
To help farmers recognize habitat needs and conservation opportunities to
help pollinators, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation , in
cooperation with the NRCS West National Technology Support Center, has
produced an informative educational brochure, ‘Farming for Pollinators.’
Copies of the brochure are available at NRCS offices across the
country.<br><br>
For more information on NRCS and Fall River Conservation District
technical assistance, or services, contact the Hot Springs Office. We are
located in the First Western Bank Building and our phone number is
745-5716, Ext. 3.<br>
The Natural Resources Conservation Service is an equal opportunity
provider and employer.<br><br>
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*************************<br>
Scott Hoffman Black<br>
Ecologist/Entomologist<br>
Executive Director<br>
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation<br>
4828 SE Hawthorne <br>
Portland, OR 97215 <br>
Direct line (503) 449-3792<br>
sblack@xerces.org<br><br>
<i>The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization that
protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their
habitat. <br>
</i> <br>
To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work, <br>
please visit
<a href="http://www.xerces.org/">www.xerces.org</a>.<br><br>
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