Powerful Pollinators Encouraging Insect Pollinators in Farm Landscapes
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NSW South West Slopes, Central West, Murray-Riverina and North East Victoria Powerful pollinators Encouraging insect pollinators in farm landscapes Pollinators are an essential component of agricultural production and of healthy, biodiverse landscapes. Protecting and enhancing pollinator resources on farms will help support a diverse range of pollinators. This brochure provides an introduction to encouraging insect pollinators on farms, including a guide to choosing plants that will support diverse pollinators throughout the year. The power of pollinators Different animals — mostly insects, but also birds and mammals — help to transfer pollen between flowering plants, allowing the formation of seeds and fruit. Pollinators do this by visiting flowers in search of food (nectar, pollen or both) and transferring pollen from one flower to another in the process. In Australia, honey bees, native bees and other native insects like hoverflies, wasps and butterflies provide essential © Thea O’Loughlin pollination services for native plants, Native vegetation supports pollinators by providing food and nesting sites. Nearby crops and pastures, crops, fruits and vegetables. pastures will benefit from the increased abundance and diversity of pollinators in the landscape. Pollinators and food security Insect populations are in decline Healthy ecosystems Without insect pollinators, the quantity worldwide due to land clearing, Pollinators are both essential to, and and diversity of food grown for humans intensive or monocultural depend upon, healthy ecosystems. in contemporary agricultural systems A growing human population and agriculture, pesticide use, would be severely restricted. Many increasing demand for food puts of the food crops we eat, as well as environmental pollution, colony pressure on ecosystems, while declining pasture and fodder crops, benefit from disease and climate change. ecosystem function will in turn pollination by insects. negatively impact food production. Low pollinator numbers mean Pollinator-dependent crops include not all flowers are pollinated, Insect pollinators are a prime example almonds, apples, blueberries and of this — without healthy ecosystems vegetables, as well as many crops leading to low fruit or seed set. and the presence of patches of grown for seed production, such as This in turn reduces crop and native vegetation to support insect canola. The quantity and diversity of pasture yields, farm profits populations, pollination will decline. insect pollinators are key drivers of This will threaten both crop productivity production as they influence both crop and ultimately food supply. and the persistence of native, yields and quality. Under-pollination pollinator-dependent flowering plants. results in smaller and misshapen fruit Pollinators require habitat — such as that is commercially unsaleable. diverse, native vegetation — that contains Grazing enterprises can also suffer year-round food sources and nesting from a reduction in the abundance or sites. The presence of pollinator habitat diversity of pollinators, due to the role close to food crops has been shown these insects play in the persistence to improve food production in adjacent of nitrogen-fixing pasture legumes crops by enabling a greater variety such as clover. and number of pollinators to persist year-round, providing pollination A diverse and healthy community of services to crops when required. pollinators generally provides more © Sustainable Farms effective and stable pollination than Under-pollination results in smaller, Turn to the centre of this brochure for relying on any single species. misshapen fruit such as this strawberry. a guide to planting for pollinators. this period insect pollinators do not need pollen creating a ‘food desert’ where Diapause or diet? flowers. Birds and other small mammals will insect pollinators cannot survive. however continue to benefit from available Where are the insects? There are still many unknowns about pollen and nectar during this time. insect pollinators in Australia. Take part Many insect pollinators undergo a If there are low numbers of insect in Australian Pollinator Week or in the diapause during colder winter months. pollinators in the landscape, it is bi-annual Wild Pollinator Count to learn Diapause is a period of suspended important to determine whether this is more about pollinators in your area — development during unfavourable because of diapause, or because of an visit AustralianPollinatorWeek.org.au environmental conditions, and during inadequate availability of nectar and and WildPollinatorCount.com 1 Encouraging pollinators on your property Create pollination reservoirs Plant according to habitat Get to know your local bush Pollination reservoirs are areas of type and prepare for change Each farm and region will have distinct native plant species that provide floral When establishing pollinator habitat, populations of insects, based on the resources for pollinators. They can consider including species that are plants and climate. Identifying and be new plantings or existing habitat, indigenous to your area but can understanding the insects in your area such as shelterbelts or remnant tolerate increasingly drier and warmer will help you develop better plantings. vegetation. A high diversity of plant conditions, to create resilient habitat The plants growing in nearby bush will species is essential to provide nectar, for the future under climate change. be well suited to the climate and soils in your region. Local community groups pollen and nesting sites throughout Rehabilitate weedy areas into managed and specialist native nurseries can the year. Pollination reservoirs need pollination reservoirs by introducing provide useful information and usually to be close enough to crops to ensure higher native plant diversity. Be careful produce local plant species. that pollinators can fly easily to them. not to plant invasive or listed weeds. Use existing habitat Double the crop value Protect and improve existing habitat Amplify the flower signal Plants that are pollinator-attracting where possible. Roadsides, shelterbelts, Plants have evolved large flowers or are sometimes crop species in their dam margins, woodlands, grasslands, clusters of smaller flowers because own right and can be used to diversify rocky areas and river and creek edges they attract more pollinator visits. farm production. Bush foods such as can all be important pollinator-attracting Large, colourful and diverse plantings desert limes, bush tomato, yam daisy areas, bringing valuable pollination attract more pollinators. Ideally, plant in and many more are in high demand services to your farm. groups that use all the vegetation layers for use in fresh and manufactured possible — combine a species-rich Epacrids (native heaths) provide late products. Native plant seed is needed mixture of forbs, ground covers, shrubs winter flowers that attract bees. If you for revegetation projects. and trees. have them on your property, protect the Supporting beekeepers by hosting areas where they grow. Epacrids have Utilise ecotones beehives is an opportunity to increase delicate root systems and are not easy pollinator numbers on the farm. to propagate, so are not included in the Ecotones are the margins between planting guide. two different habitats. Ecotones often Reduce chemical use contain a more diverse mixture of Plant new trees, shrubs and where possible species because they are used by groundcovers species from both habitats. Protect and Insecticides, fungicides and herbicides Use a combination of direct seed sowing utilise ecotones such as the transition all affect bee, colony and wild pollinator and planting tube stock to establish health. Herbicides can impact pollinators zones between woodland and new vegetation. Initial watering and by reducing the availability and diversity grassland, or wetland and grassland protection from grazing will improve of flora and removing vegetation that to create highly diverse floral and the success rate of young plants. Forbs helps support insect life. Some herbicides insect communities. and native pea species are excellent can also harm the beneficial bacteria pollinator attractors but more difficult in the insect gut. Insecticides are an to establish. obvious threat to pollinators, yet many pollinators will, in healthy numbers, help control pest insects, ultimately reducing the need for insecticide use. Plant a variety of Many crops are dependent on pollination flowering species to by bees. When chemical pest control is encourage pollinators unavoidable, select products that are year round Proximity of native least harmful for pollinators and apply vegetation to insecticides in the evening or at night crops will increase when pollinators are not active. pollination and crop yield Always use according to directions, especially for withholding periods, and notify beekeepers a few days before Host spraying chemicals so beehives can be beehives to increase safely relocated away from harm. pollinator numbers Protect existing habitat by fencing out livestock 2 Flowering Pollinator reward Visitation by pollinator Lifeform Common name Scientific name Family Vegetation type Height Flower colour Aspect Soil moisture Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Pollen Nectar Native bees Honey bees Hoverflies Wasps Butterflies Moths Beetles Flies Crop plants Herb Canola Brassica napus Brassicaceae Field 0.8–1.5 m Yellow Sun Moist to dry ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ ⬤ A guide to planting Herb Lucerne