[Pollinator] Project to impact native pollinators (Pennsylvania)

[Matthew Shepherd]

From: 

Farm and Dairy - The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace

http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/project-to-impact-native-pollinators/16090.
html

 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010


Project to impact native pollinators


by Other News 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fruits and nuts are high value crops in the
Mid-Atlantic states worth over $300 million and are being heavily impacted
by honey bee shortages for pollination.

A new $1.4 million grant from the USDA NIFA Specialty
<http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/specialtycropresearchinitiative.cfm>  Crops
Research Initiative program to Penn State will look into future impacts on
fruit pollination and the development of alternative pollinators to
supplement honey bees.


Concern


According to David Biddinger <http://ento.psu.edu/directory/djb134> , tree
fruit entomologist and biocontrol specialist at Penn State's Fruit Research
and Extension Center <http://frec.cas.psu.edu/>  and project co-director,
the situation is becoming critical.

"We already know the supply of honey bees in the U.S. will not be able to
meet the demand for pollination services in the near future," he explained.

"We also know that the production costs for apiculturists will go up, and
that the cost to fruit growers to rent honey bee hives for pollination has
increased three-fold since 2006 and will continue to increase. Alternative
pollinators such as native wild bees are greatly needed."

The new project will establish surveys and a monitoring program to identify
the importance of wild pollinators to agricultural pollination, assess bee
species collected during survey work to determine if any pathogen or other
invasive species has infected the population, develop new pollinators and
enhance pollinator awareness through education efforts.


Role


According to Biddinger, native bees play an important role in the
pollination of fruits and vegetable crops in the Mid-Atlantic region and
have probably been underestimated.

"In a recent study, almost 50 species of native bees were shown to be key
crop pollinators of several vegetable crops and were fully able to pollinate
some of these crops without aid of honey bees on the majority of the
Pennsylvania and New Jersey farms evaluated."

In addition, a two-year survey of 12 Pennsylvania apple orchards conducted
by Biddinger found more than 120 species of bees. He found that while honey
bee numbers had decreased by ten-fold since 1997, wild bee numbers had
increased an average of three to five-fold.

"Native bee pollination hasn't really been studied in the Mid-Atlantic, so
we don't know what bee species are here and what fauna we have to conserve.
This will be one of the first steps in the project," Biddinger said.


Additionally


Project investigators also plan on examining threats to native pollinators,
such as viruses that have affected honey bee populations and pesticides. The
project will also examine the management of key species of wild bees for use
in agriculture.

"We have fresh market apple growers who have relied upon native pollinators
for fruit pollination for over ten years without noticeable loss in yield or
quality, but we need to verify this through measurement of yield, fruit set,
fruit size and fruit quality in comparison to orchards using recommended
rates of honey bees for pollination," Biddinger explained.

Native bee populations can vary widely from season to season, so these
measurements need to be repeated over several seasons to determine
reliability. Native bees, including bumble bees, greatly rely on adjacent
woodlots and fencerows for nesting sites and supplemental food after apple
bloom.

Most native bees don't fly nearly as far as honey bees, so determining the
foraging ranges of key bee species will be important in providing reliable
pollination of crops.


Standards


Guidelines for pollinator-friendly land practices will also be developed,
including land management practices that avoid harming bees, how to provide
habitat for native bees on and around the farm, and guidelines for pesticide
use to preserve wild bee populations.

According to project co-director Ed Rajotte, professor of entomology at Penn
State and IPM coordinator, an ecological approach to managing pests in
agricultural crops is known as integrated pest management.


Details


IPM involves compiling detailed and timely information about a crop and its
pests to ensure that pest management decisions are economically,
environmentally, and socially sound.

In practice, it involves using several control tactics based on knowledge of
the crop, weather conditions, pests and associated natural enemies to avoid
crop losses and to minimize harmful effects on the environment and
non-target organisms such as bees.

Applying the principles of IPM to conserve native bees for sustainable
pollination is something new for most regions of the US. Another goal of the
project is to increase the awareness of wild bee pollinators by the public
and the agricultural community.

"What we learn from pollinator restoration demonstrations, the information
assembled from past research on native bee habitat and crop pollination, and
our years of experience working on pollinator conservation in agricultural
landscapes will be presented to farmers/land mangers in a practical way they
can use to conserve pollinators on their lands," Biddinger explained.

"We will conduct workshops, farm walks, and seminars to farmers and staff
from farm-related agencies and develop audience-specific educational
materials." 


Partners


Other collaborators on the project include researchers from Penn State, the
Pennsylvania
<http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_
department_of_agriculture/10297>  Department of Agriculture, the Xerces
<http://www.xerces.org/>  Society, Long Island University,
<http://www.liunet.edu/>  the US Department of Agriculture NRCS and the US
Department of the Interior.

For more information on bees and other pollinators, visit Penn State's
Center for Pollinator Research at http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators.

The Pennsylvania IPM program is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania
State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture aimed at
promoting integrated pest management in both agricultural and urban
settings.

For more information, contact the program at 814-865-2839 or visit
www.paipm.org. 

 

 

_____________________________________________

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

A nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through 

the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.

 

Matthew Shepherd

Senior Conservation Associate

mdshepherd at xerces.org

4828 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97215

Tel: 503-232 6639

Fax: 503-233 6794

www.xerces.org

_____________________________________________

 

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