Dear Matthew:<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>You know, I'd feel a lot better about radio chat shows if we'd all modify our statements (just a little bit). The program description below makes a sweeping claim. It's just a matter of adding two words to the first sentence so it reads "Much of our fruit, nut and vegetable supply depends..." </div>
<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Really, you can't make a case for the importance of insect-pollinated crops to people in the walnut, pecan, pine nut and hazel nut (filbert) industries. I don't have a copy of Free's "Insect Pollination of Crops" (1970) with me but I suspect that spinach flowers, and the flowers of those leafy amaranths found in supermarket salad bags, depend on pollen drifting in air currents as well...right?</div>
<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>I'm very pleased when colleagues inform the public about pollination and press the concept that pollination is an "essential service." However, we must give credit where credit is due and reflect on the fact that most (not all) gymnosperms and quite a few flowering plants have "opted out" of the birds and the bees and the bats nectar race and settled for essential services performed by wind or water. </div>
<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Perhaps a member of this list would comment on the huge citrus industry. Most modern breeds are polyploids and agamospermic and/or parthenocarpic. It's nice to see honeybees in the groves and orange-blossom honey is my favorite. The question is whether they are needed at all? Do most (any) citrus cultivars need pollen deposited on stigmas to trigger fruit set? Certainly, some agamospermic pathways in other species (Potentilla and other members of the Rosaceae) require a sort of "pseudo" or "Half-fertilization." The egg refuses sperm but the polar cells must have it to make the typical triploid endosperm. </div>
<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Sincerely, Peter<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Matthew Shepherd (Xerces Society) <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org">mdshepherd@xerces.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div><font size="2">"Sustainable Agriculture Spotlight" with Jeff Birkby (outreach
director for NCAT’s National Sustainable Agriculture Information
Service) is broadcast on VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. Yesterday's
(Tuesday, 7/20) program focused on pollinators and featured interviews
with Rex Dufour of NCAT and Eric Mader of the Xerces Society.</font></div>
<div><font size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2">You can listen to it or download a podcast at <a href="http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=47437" target="_blank">http://www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=47437</a>.</font></div>
<div><font size="2"></font> </div>
<div><font size="2">The program description from the website:</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman">"Our nation’s fruit, nut, and vegetable supply
depends on insect pollinators. But our conventional agricultural systems aren’t
friendly to pollinating insects. Conventional agriculture also relies heavily on
only one insect, the European honeybee, to pollinate most of our crops. In this
episode, host Jeff Birkby interviews Eric Mader, National Pollinator Outreach
Coordinator for the nonprofit Xerces Society. Also joining the program will be
Rex Dufour of the National Center for Appropriate Technology. Eric and Rex will
discuss the importance of pollinators in sustainable agriculture, and ways
farmers and gardeners can attract beneficial insects to pollinate crops."
</font></div></div>
<br>
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<div><font size="1"><font size="1"></font> </font></div>
<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
invertebrates and their </font></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><font size="1">habitat. </font></font><font face="Arial"><font size="1">To </font></font><font face="Arial"><font size="1">join the Society, make a
</font></font><font size="1">contribution</font><font size="1">, </font><font size="1">or read about our </font></div>
<div><font size="1">work, </font><font size="1">please visit </font><font size="1"><a href="http://www.xerces.org" target="_blank">www.xerces.org</a>.</font></div></font><font size="1"></font></div></div>
<div><font size="1"></font> </div>
<div><font size="1">Matthew Shepherd</font></div>
<div><font size="1">Senior Conservation Associate</font></div>
<div><font size="1">4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215,
USA</font></div>
<div><font size="1">Tel: 503-232 6639 Cell: 503-807 1577 Fax: 503-233
6794</font></div>
<div><font size="1">Email: </font><a href="mailto:mdshepherd@xerces.org" target="_blank"><font size="1">mdshepherd@xerces.org</font></a><font size="1"> </font></div>
<div><font size="2"><font size="1">______________________________________________________</font></font></div>
<div><font size="2"> </font></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>