Overview of the 2014 Presidential Memorandum on Pollinators
Webinar Details
When:
Sep 21, 2016 1:00 pm US/Eastern
Length: 01:25 (hh:mm)
Advance Registration NOT required.
View now on-demand.
Presenter(s):
- Mace Vaughan, Co-Director, Pollinator Conservation and Agricultural Biodiversity Program, Xerces Society
- John Proctor, Forest Service Regional Botanist
Virtual Event Format:
Group Viewing Available:
Creating and maintaining pollinator habitat is a national priority for USDA and the Forest Service. Learn to create and enhance forest pollinator habitat as well as native seed banks through regional case studies.
In the past, native bees and feral honey bees could meet the pollination needs of orchards, melon and pumpkin fields, seed producers, and berry patches because these farms were typically adjacent to areas of habitat that harbored important pollinators. Today, farms in the U.S. are larger and have less adjacent habitat to support bees. Yet, the need for pollinators in agricultural landscapes has never been greater. Across the globe, the acreage of insect pollinated crops has more than doubled in the past 50 years. At the same time, commercial beekeepers in the U.S. are losing an unsustainable percentage of A bumble bee on a peach blossom Photo by Nancy Adamson NRCS ENTSC/Xerces Society their hives of honey bees each year because of a combination of habitat loss, diseases and pests, and pesticide exposure. Native bee abundance and diversity is challenged as well. Almost 25 percent of bumble bees are facing dramatic population declines, and the abundance and diversity of native bees is lower in heavily developed landscapes. Ongoing research demonstrates, however, that these native bees play a vital role in crop pollination, and that their numbers can be increased. Private landowners can do a lot to help support these critical pollinators by providing habitat and flowering plants that provide food for pollinators. Furthermore, for producers of insect pollinated crops, pollinator habitat and floral diversity on the farm can also pay dividends by improving crop quality and yield, while also supporting other types of production and natural resource conservation goals. This webinar reviews some of the most important pollinators for food production and their habitat needs. It also illustrates how agroforestry practices can be adjusted to support pollinators, and also provide multiple benefits
for producers.
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