[Pollinator] Native pollinators: Key to sustainable fruit production?

[Scott Black]

Native pollinators: Key to sustainable fruit production?

August 6th, 2010 by David Tenenbaum

  http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/42553043/native-pollinators-key-to-sustainable-fruit-production.html

Native pollinators: Key to sustainable fruit production?


Jennifer Hopwood (left), pollinator specialist 
from the Xerces Society and Susan Carpenter, 
Arboretum native plant gardener, examine 
pollinators on dotted mint Aug. 3, 2010, during a 
workshop on native pollinators at the UW-Madison 
Arboretum, sponsored by the UW-Madison Center for 
Integrated Agricultural Systems. Photo: Molly 
FiField Murray, UW-Madison Arboretum

As a group of students ogles wild flowers on a 
sunny day at the UW Arboretum, the blooming 
dotted mint, iron weed and black-eyed susans are 
certainly glorious. But these adult students are 
not concentrating on the flowers. Instead, they 
are focusing on the insects busily pollinating 
those blooms. Wasps. Flies. Beetles. And a dozen 
species of native bees, including several species of bumblebee.

The class, including graduate students, 
conservation officials, Arboretum employees and 
two people from the fruit industry, is interested 
in promoting native pollinators as a replacement 
for the ever-scarcer colonies of honeybees.

The workshop is sponsored by the Eco-Fruit 
Project, a statewide program coordinated by 
UW-Madison's Center for Integrated Agricultural 
Systems that is helping fruit growers reduce 
pesticide use, lighten their impact on the land, 
and improve profitability and marketability.

Today's instructor is Jennifer Hopwood of the 
Xerces Society, which advocates conservation of 
insects and other invertebrates. Hopgood points 
out many advantages for native pollinators, 
which, unlike honeybees, come with the territory and need not be rented.

Some native bees, Hopgood says, are dramatically 
more industrious than honeybees.

Native pollinators interested workshop attendee 
Richard Schneider of Calamus Creek Farms in 
Columbus, Wis., a small apple producer with a 
diversified farm. "There's such a variety of 
pollinators, and people have not been paying 
attention to them. There's a lot of education needed."

The origins of Eco-Fruit date to 2000, when apple 
growers in southeast Wisconsin came to Michelle 
Miller of the integrated agriculture center. The 
growers were worried about impending bans on 
their two main insecticides. At the same time, 
consumers were becoming more concerned about pesticides in food.

Miller collaborated with the Wisconsin Apple 
Growers Association and UW-Extension fruit 
specialists to design a program of participatory 
research that started from these grower concerns.

Regina Hirsch, an outreach specialist at the 
center, says the growers organized into regional 
networks. They also adopted integrated pest 
management, a strategy that bases pesticide 
decisions on weather, insect populations and 
economics, rather than spraying on a preordained schedule.

Within three years, the toxic burden of their 
sprays was cut in half, says Hirsch.

As more growers around the state became 
interested, the Eco-Apple Project expanded into other parts of the state.

After other Wisconsin fruit growers joined 
Eco-Apple, the name was changed to the Eco-Fruit 
Project, but the goals remained the same: to use 
participatory research to learn to grow fruit 
more efficiently, profitably and sustainably.

Eco-Fruit now has at least 70 participants in five networks in Wisconsin.

Most commercial fruits must be pollinated by 
animals ­ typically bees ­ and as honeybees 
continue to suffer what's known as colony 
collapse disorder, the Eco-Fruit Project is 
working to improve conditions for honeybees and native pollinators alike.

The Arboretum workshop is one of six being held 
around the state, where growers, conservationists 
and scientists are assembling to discuss native pollinators.

Natives have significant advantages, says Hirsch. 
"Wisconsin apples bloom in April, when it's cold 
and rainy. Honeybees don't like to work under 
those conditions, but bumblebees will still be 
pollinating, and in that short period of 
blossoming, you want something hardy out in your orchard."

A big part of the job is creating or conserving 
habitat where native bees can nest and eat, says 
Hirsch. "Natives can shoulder more of the burden 
if we develop natural habitat with a variety of 
flowering plants that bloom throughout the 
season. It might take a while to reach 100 
percent, but they can definitely play a role."

For a schedule of upcoming workshops, visit 
<http://conservation-training.wisc.edu/course_listing/list_sections?course_id=7>http://conservatio 

 ?course_id=7 .

Provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison



*************************
Scott Hoffman Black
Ecologist/Entomologist
Executive Director
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
4828 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97215
Direct line (503) 449-3792
sblack at xerces.org

The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit 
organization that protects wildlife through the 
conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work,
please visit <http://www.xerces.org/>www.xerces.org.


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