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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sam,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You may be pleased to know that the idea of flowery
lawns has not been totally overlooked. We've been promoting "ecolawns" wherever
we can -- and I admit that it has only been in a few places to date, so I doubt
it has had a big impact yet. Whenever I get the opportunity to talk to
gardeners, urban/suburban park managers, and others with lawns under their
purview, finding ways to reduce the intensity of lawn maintenance and allow
flowers to bloom is part of the discussion.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Our guidelines for urban greenspaces
("Pollinator-Friendly Parks", available from the publications pages of our web
site, <A href="http://www.xerces.org">www.xerces.org</A>), includes mention of
ecolawns and suggests some low-growing plants. The reality is that many areas of
grass are already low-maintenance and in the eyes of some lawn aficionados, full
of weeds, so they offer some bee resources.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Matthew</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********<BR><BR>On
2/4/2009 at 1:00 PM David Inouye wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid">
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><BR>From: Sam Droege
<sdroege@usgs.gov><BR>Sender:
beemonitoring@yahoogroups.com<BR>Mailing-List: list
beemonitoring@yahoogroups.com; contact
beemonitoring-owner@yahoogroups.com<BR><BR><FONT size=2>All:</FONT>
<BR><BR><FONT size=2>From what I have seen of the urban
pollination/pollinator world, the concentration of research, advice, and
management has focused on flowering plants, both in remnant parkland and in
garden plots. All good. Bees are found in surprising places and
easily surpass butterflies in abundance and kinds. But. Places
that are gardenable and convertible are limited, particularly compared to
paved areas and lawns. Paved areas are of limited use for
pollinators, of course, but lawns, while ignored by the average bee
urbanite, are not. We have sampled lawns on the National Mall
and elsewhere and found bees in abundance. What are they doing
there? I think it has a lot to do with prostrate flowers such as
clover, purslane, and spurge plus the quick bloomers such as dandelions and
plantains. </FONT><BR><BR><FONT size=2>What if someone would develop a
bee lawn seed mix? </FONT><BR><BR><FONT size=2>Wouldn't that
potentially have a higher impact on the number and kinds of bees in urban
areas than the high effort, high cost, high maintenance (but, yes, very
pretty) pollinator garden? Particularly if most people don't want to
go to the effort?</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT size=2>What if highway departments
seeded with a bee roadside mix that didn't require them to NOT mow or to
treat any different than they do now....wouldn't that be an even greater
impact than the few places where people tolerate weedy looking native plant
plots and can afford the planting and upkeep?</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
size=2>sam</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
size=2>
<BR>Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
<BR>w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624<BR>USGS Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center<BR>BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville,
MD 20705<BR><A
href="Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/">Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov</A></FONT>
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<DIV><FONT
size=1>______________________________________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><STRONG>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>The Xerces Society is an international
nonprofit organization that </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=1>protects wildlife through the conservation of
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<DIV><FONT size=1>Matthew Shepherd</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1>Senior Conservation Associate</FONT></DIV>
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USA</FONT></DIV>
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