[Pollinator] Help needed in developing target list of plants for Specialist Bee Management - U.S.

[Droege, Sam]

All:

Recently, the U.S. President signed a memo regarding the conservation and
management of pollinators.  [See:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/20/presidential-memorandum-creating-federal-strategy-promote-health-honey-b]
    Probably the first such memo about an insect coming from the White
House.  Within the memo is wording (inserted at the bottom of this email)
that talks in broad terms about "enhancing pollinator habitat."  This is a
good thing, and while there is generally information available on native
plants that are attractive/used by bees, there is less information
available about native plants that are especially important for declining,
generally rare, or specialist bees.  We'd like to pull together a list of
native plants for these declining, rare and specialist bees to have
available for managers who will be incorporating pollinator-friendly plants
into restorations, landscaping, and augmenting existing habitats/plants,
etc.

So, this is where you, dear listserv members, come in.  Most of the time
bees that specialize in the collection of pollen from a single or limited
number of genera are less common and ultimately more vulnerable to
landscape extinction.  We need to hear from people across the U.S.
(Canadians and Mexicans feel free to offer up advice too) about what
specialist plants should be encouraged for your region and specific habitat
types within that region to support decling, rare or specialist bees.  We
especially seek information from the western regions.

So, you can send you ideas and suggestions publicly (to the listserv) as
that may stimulate further ideas or clarifications or privately to Sam.

Include the plant group/species, the bees they will serve, and the region
and habitats were they are found.

We will send back a compiled list to the community in a few weeks for
further hashing about.

Looks like things are happening quickly on this front so we want to have
this information available soon.

Thanks

Sam Droege (sdroege at usgs.gov)
Dolores Savignano (dolores_savignano at fws.gov)

-----------------------------------------------

Section 3 (a): Task Force member agencies shall develop and provide to the
Task Force plans to enhance pollinator habitat, and subsequently implement,
as appropriate, such plans on their managed lands and facilities,
consistent with their missions and public safety. These plans may include:
facility landscaping, including easements; land management; policies with
respect to road and other rights-of-way; educational gardens; use of
integrated vegetation and pest management; increased native vegetation; and
application of pollinator-friendly best management practices and seed
mixes. Task Force member agencies shall also review any new or renewing
land management contracts and grants for the opportunity to include
requirements for enhancing pollinator habitat. 

Sam Droege  sdroege at usgs.gov
w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD  20705
Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov

Except during the nine months before he draws his first breath,
    no man manages his affairs as well as a tree does.
             -  George Bernard Shaw




-- 
Bees are Not Optional
Apes sunt et non liberum
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