Powerful Pollinators - it ain't just the bees!
Community Participation - LEP23_013_LLCSG
The issue
Bees undoubtedly provide important pollination services to our horticultural and agricultural industries, however, there are many other creatures, large, small, insectivorous, avian and mammalian, who contribute to our food web. Since 2022, when the Varroa mite was first discovered in NSW, the European honey bee industry has been under significant stress, as indicated by the increasing price of honey. Does this put our food industry (or parts of it) at risk? We wanted to know! And, if so, what are the alternatives?
The solution
Gwydir Ark Biodiversity Group thought National Pollinator Week was a great opportunity to find out more about the range of other powerful (and important) pollinators who could (and already do) fill some bee sized gaps. With the support of North West Local Land Services and Southern Qld Northern NSW Drought Hub, we were able to engage three Post Doctoral Fellow researchers from the University of New England (UNE) Rader Community Ecology Lab to share some of their research with us. It was clearly demonstrated through this fun, informative and engaging session that non-bee pollinators are contributing in a vital way in a variety of crops. We were able to observe bees, wasps and flies under the microscope which was a highlight for many of the attendees.
The impact
Eleven people attended the session and we had fantastic feedback from it, which indicates the message will be spread far beyond The Living Classroom (where the session was held), to family, friends and colleagues. Some of the feedback included:
"Make sure you take this presentation elsewhere!"
"Great presentations, but seeing the insects and learning more about them was the best."
"I will have more respect for the flies now!"
“I particularly liked the information about the pollinators and drought”
For Gwydir Ark Biodiversity Group, the engagement far outweighed attendee numbers. The power of having engaging, enthusiastic, and incredibly knowledgeable field scientists deliver a message could not be understated. The day was a great hit.
Learnings
- productivity can be improved by having multiple pollinators
- Climate variability impacts on pollinators and plant morphology
- Birds, microbats and marsupials not only provide pollination services, but insect control as well.
- providing habitat and resources for insects, marsupials, bats and birds between cropping cycles and blocks is vital to ensure sustainable pollination.