Pollinators

Pollinators are responsible for assisting over 80% of the world's flowering plants. Without them, humans and wildlife wouldn't have much to eat or look at! Animals that assist plants in their reproduction as pollinators include species of ants, bats, bees, beetles, birds, butterflies, flies, moths, wasps, as well as other unusual animals. Wind and water also play a role in the pollination of many plants.

Learn More About Pollinators

Resources

Plant a garden that butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees will love as much as you!

Posted June 21, 2018

The Bee Smart® Pollinator Gardener is your comprehensive guide to selecting plants for pollinators specific to your area. Never get caught wondering what plants to buy again!

It is available free on both Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) platforms.

Go to the Pollinator Partnership BeeSmart web page…

Maintaining and Improving Habitat for Hummingbirds in Alaska

Posted June 15, 2018

Hummingbirds play an important role in the food web, pollinating a variety of flowering plants, some of which are specifically adapted to pollination by hummingbirds. This guide is intended to help you provide and improve habitat for hummingbirds, as well as for other pollinators. This guide provides brief descriptions of the hummingbirds that occur within Alaska, as well as some basic information about their habitat needs.

See the Alaska hummingbird guide and also see other hummingbird guides for other parts of the United States.

New Pollinator Partnership Poster: Pollinators and Seeds

Posted May 9, 2018

A diversity of managed and native pollinators supports healthy wildlands and a nutritious food supply in North America. In turn, native plant communities that sustain pollinators are an essential foundation for ecosystem integrity and diversity.

Rebuilding native plant communities after rangeland fires, the spread of invasive species, hurricanes, floods, and severe drought requires seeds that fit the climate and geography to ensure the species longevity. As we restore and rehabilitate these habitats, pollinator health will increase through a diverse food supply of pollen and nectar. Healthy pollinator populations will ensure productive crops and the food security necessary in the 21st century.

Visit the Pollinator Partnership to see the poster and read more about Pollinators and Seeds…

New Handout! Why Grow and Sell Native Milkweed?

Posted April 23, 2018

The Monarch Joint Venture is pleased to announce the release of a new handout: “Why Grow and Sell Native Milkweed?”

This handout provides the public, gardeners, and plant growers and nurseries with a concise description of the importance of native milkweeds and their value to monarchs and to the plant industry! With tips about overcoming barriers to growing milkweed, resources for further reading and examples of native milkweeds for regions across the U.S., this new handout will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the native milkweed industry. If you’re not a grower or nursery, consider bringing this resource to your local nursery manager if they aren’t already selling pesticide-free native milkweed!

Download the handout…

The Monarch Highway Poster

Posted June 14, 2017

The landscape that parallels roadways, like the I-35 corridor, can provide natural habitat to support the annual migration of the monarch butterfly. The Pollinator Partnership, including a number of state, local and federal government agencies, corporations, and organizations collaborating and supporting pollinators and conservation of their habitat developed this poster to celebrate the monarch butterfly.

The I-35 corridor follows Interstate 35 through six states from Minnesota south to Texas, following the central flyway of monarch migration. In 2016, these states signed a memorandum of understanding that informally named I-35 the “Monarch Highway” and agreed to implement coordinated management practices along the corridor that benefit monarchs and other pollinators.

Visit the Pollinator Partnership to see the poster and read more about The Monarch Highway…

Maintaining and Improving Habitat for Hummingbirds in the Western U.S.

Posted April 28, 2017

The Forest Service and Pollinator Partnership developed land manager’s guides to provide general information and native plant lists for regions of the western United States.

See the hummingbird guides…

Trees for Bees

Posted April 20, 2017

Trees provide an abundant and dense supply of nectar and pollen in one place. This allows bees to spend less energy searching for food. Trees that bloom in spring are important to support bees that have depleted their winter store of honey. Look up, next time you are walking around looking at wildflowers!

Visit the Pollinator Partnership to see the poster…

 

Pollinator-Friendly Best Management Practices for Federal Lands

Posted June 16, 2016

On June 20, 2014, the White House released a “Presidential Memorandum—Creating a Federal Strategy To Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators” (PDF, 52 KB).

With this direction, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Interior, issue this timely and critically needed document, Pollinator-Friendly Best Management Practices For Federal Lands, May 11, 2015 (PDF, 5.1 MBs).

This document will guide federal land managers to effectively and efficiently use available resources and engage public and private partnerships in taking action for the conservation and management of pollinators and pollinator habitat on federal lands.

Read more about the BMPs…

Working Trees for Pollinators

Posted October 28, 2015

Today, farms in the United States are larger and have less adjacent habitat to support bees. Yet, the need for pollinators in agricultural landscapes has never been greater. The latest Working Trees brochure of the National Agroforestry Center is online.

• Working Trees for Pollinators (PDF)
• Also take a look a the Agroforestry Center's Pollinators Issue web page…

You Can Help Save the Monarch Butterfly!

Posted September 9, 2015

Every backyard can become an oasis for monarchs and other pollinators, even in cities. Schools, youth and community groups, businesses, and state and local governments can engage in planting native milkweed and protecting monarch habitat along roadsides, rights of way, and other public and private lands.

Report your sightings!

Also, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "Save the Monarch Butterfly" web page…

Propagating Native Milkweeds for Restoring Monarch Butterfly Habitat

Posted August 31, 2015

The number of monarch butterflies is rapidly declining. Milkweeds, which are the sole food source for monarch caterpillars, have also experienced a decline throughout the breeding range of this butterfly. Milkweeds can be grown from seeds or vegetatively from root cuttings or rhizomes. The International Plant Propagator's Society published this article in their Combined Proceedings, Volume 64, 2014.

Read the article about propagating milkweeds for restoring monarch butterfly habitat (PDF, 324 KB)…

Interior Department Releases National Seed Strategy for Landscape Scale Rehabilitation and Restoration

Posted August 18, 2015

The Department of the Interior announced the release of a National Seed Strategy for rehabilitation and restoration to help foster resilient and healthy landscapes.

The Strategy, developed in partnership with the Plant Conservation Alliance and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, guides ecological restoration across major landscapes, especially for those lands damaged by rangeland fires, invasive species, severe storms, and drought. The Strategy emphasizes importance of planting appropriate seeds to help grow plant life and pollinator habitat, which are critical natural defenses against climate change.

• Read the Department of the Interior newsletter (PDF, 37 KB)
• National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration (PDF, 12 MB)

National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators

Posted July 16, 2015

On May 19, 2015, the Secreatary of the Department of Agriculture and the Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on the behalf of the Pollinator Health Task Force, transmitted the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators (Strategy). Developed through a collaborative effort across the Executive Branch, this Strategy outlines a comprehensive approach to tackling and reducing the impact of multiple stressors on pollinator health, including pests and pathogens, reduced habitat, lack of nutritional resources, and exposure to pesticides.

• National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, Pollinator Health Task Force, May 19, 2 015 (PDF, 746 KB)
  • Appendices (PDF, 488 KB)
• Pollinator Research Action Plan, Report of the Pollinator Health Task Force, May 19, 2015 (PDF, 685 KB)

Read more about Pollinator-Friendly Best Management Practices for Federal Lands…

Gardening and Landscaping Practices for Nesting Native Bees

Posted June 2, 2015

Urbanization takes its toll on native bees, but many species can persist with a little help from gardeners and landscapers. Like birds, bees have two primary needs in life: Food (for a bee, pollen and nectar) to feed themselves and their offspring, and a suitable place to nest. The Utah State University Extension and Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Laboratory has published a fact sheet regarding practices property owners may use to favor nesting native bees.

See Gardening and Landscaping Practices for Nesting Native Bees (PDF)…

Also, see Gardening for Native Bees in Utah and Beyond (PDF)…

Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden Using Native Plants

Posted May 4, 2015

Many of us enjoy the beauty of flowers in our backyard and community gardens. Growing native plants adds important habitat for hummingbirds and otherwildlife—especially pollinators. Even small backyard gardens can make a difference. Gardening connects us to nature and helps us better understand how nature works. This guide will help you create a hummingbird friendly garden.

Read Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden Using Native Plants (PDF, 3.5 MB)…

Native Pollinators and Agriculture in Canada

Posted April 22, 2015

We live in an inter-connected and inter-dependent world. A seed planted into soil, watered by rain and last winter’s snow and warmed by sunshine grows into a plant that produces many more seeds that are processed and baked into bread. This booklet tells the story of one of these threads, a surprisingly important one—pollinators and their connection to agriculture.

Read Native Pollinators and Agriculture in Canada (PDF)…

Learn How You Can Use Agroforestry to Help Pollinators

Posted April 14, 2015

The latest issue of the Inside Agroforestry Newsletter has hit the streets on the National Agroforestry Center website. This issue of Agroforestry Center's Inside Agroforestry highlights ways that agroforestry has supported pollinator conservation and management as well as efforts that have also served to educate the public.

• Learn How You Can Use Agroforestry to Help Pollinators (PDF)
• Also take a look a the Agroforestry Center's Pollinators Issue web page…

Also see Celebrating Wildflowers News for news about pollinators…