The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust (GPLT) protects land where you live, work and play.
We protect land that supports healthy habitats where wildlife thrives and people can connect with nature.
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Green Spaces & Pollinators
Pollinators such as birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals are critical for sustaining our ecosystems and helping plants reproduce providing food for humans and other wildlife.* The importance of green spaces, such as those permanently protected by the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, to support bio-diverse communities of pollinators is paramount, particularly in an urban/suburban landscape.
Green space is land that is partly or completely covered with trees, shrubs and other ground cover varieties, included are woodlands, wetlands, farmlands, parks, community gardens, and cemeteries. To attract and sustain native pollinators, an area must have adequate sources of food, water, shelter and nesting sites. Pollinators can thrive when these spaces are managed in a healthy manner, including the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, rather than indiscriminate use of insecticides and herbicides.
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Woodlands & Pollinators
We usually think of flowers as the main resource needed by pollinators when in reality they also need habitat such as open soil, sand, mud, hollow logs, stumps or materials such as coarse woody debris or pithy plant stems for nesting.
Woodlands fulfill the needs of many pollinators by providing quality habitat as well as food and nectar. They also act as a buffer and windbreak to protect pollinators (and people) by
reducing wind speed, making it easier for pollinators to fly and visit flowers.
In a wooded environment where plants are able to thrive the soil acts like a gigantic sponge, storing a vast quantity of water that is used by the plants and trees or released gently into streams and rivers. Various layers of woodland plants provide nectar sources for pollinators where other sources might not exist in times of drought.
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Wetlands & Pollinators
As urban areas grow, wetland buffers are increasingly important green spaces protecting watersheds and providing refuge to pollinators and other wildlife.
Wet areas often maintain a high diversity of flowering plants for extended periods of the year, even when nearby areas do not.
Wetlands adjacent to forest lands act as buffers and are important for bees and other pollinators during hot summer months when upland plants may not produce nectar or pollen. Honey bees may also visit muddy areas to gather water for cooling their hives.
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Farmlands & Pollinators
Farmlands, orchards, and gardens require pollination in order for flowers to form fruit. Native pollinators can increase crop yields, as well as prey on crop pests. Maintaining protected, undisturbed native habitat, wetlands and woodlands for pollinators has been shown to increase crop yields through increased pollination.
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Residential Landscapes & Pollinators
Planting a variety of native trees, shrubs and flowers is the easiest way to attract native pollinators. Providing this variety of trees and plants, which have various bloom times, heights and flower types will allow use by the widest range of native pollinators for nectar, pollen and/or larval host plants. Trees and shrubs also provide important nesting, shelter and over-wintering sites for many species of pollinators. Many species of pollinators don’t fly very far, s
o having many types of habitat as close as possible can be helpful.
A diverse blend of native trees, bushes and flowers can provide shelter, food (in the form of pollen, nectar and prey), and places to overwinter for beneficial insects, such as predators or parasites of pollinator pests. These beneficial insects can be a component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and can help to reduce the need for pesticides, thus reducing the impact of pesticides on pollinators.
Unfortunately, widespread and often unregulated use of insecticides and herbicides pose a real threat to all insect pollinators. By definition, insecticides kill insects; herbicides reduce plant species. Bees are exposed to pesticides via crops, recreational areas, gardens, and numerous other landscapes. Due to the ease of accessibility, lack of regulation, and limited educational opportunities, the highest rates of pesticides, in pounds per acre, are dispersed by homeowners in urban and suburban areas. Insecticide over-spray and drift can result in die offs of bystander insects.
Herbicides reduce plant diversity, nesting sites, and food sources. As pollinators and their plant communities are mutually dependent on each other for survival, this loss of resources has resulted in declining bee and other pollinator populations. Use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques as an alternative to insecticides and pesticides can be implemented as alternative methods to reduce negative impacts.
Many homeowner association covenants are written in such a way that requires homeowners to create sterile lawns and landscapes through the extensive use of insecticides and herbicides. As homeowners we can provide additional habitat options for pollinators by creating healthy landscapes through the use of native plants and judicious use of insecticides and herbicides
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Fringe/Fragmented Areas & Pollinators
Roadsides, trail sides, rights of way, power line or pipeline corridors, and airport runways are valuable potential pollinator highways if managed for native flowering plants and nesting structures.
Fragmented areas, such as traffic circles, parking lots, green roofs, and schoolyards can still provide valuable habitat and resources, especially if they are strategically located as corridors or stepping stones that link to more contiguous locations such as woodlands and wetlands.
A woodland edge is the interface between the forest and fields, wetlands, farmlands, residential landscapes or other open spaces. Certain species of plants and animals are adapted to this area, and these species are often more familiar to humans than species only found deeper within forests. A classic example of a forest edge species is the white-tailed deer.
It is important to keep these fringe and fragmented areas healthy in order for pollinators to thrive and move among the diversity of habitats that exist in our urban, suburban and farmland areas.
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Protecting such important lands is all we do. But we cannot do it without you. Please support our mission with a donation today.
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Pictures taken at 2 different GPLT protected properties.
Top: Yellow swallowtail butterfly.
Bottom: Box turtle laying eggs.
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Photos Courtesy of Hank Ohme, Carol Hassell & Dale Higdon
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