The Importance of Florida's Pollinators

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1st Grade Natural Resources Course The Importance of Florida’s Pollinators

Created by: Florida Native Plant Society

To the Educator:

It is no secret that much of Florida’s unique natural habitats have been altered through human actions. Whether it is for housing development, agriculture, or recreational use, humans have disrupted natural ecosystems before recognizing the value and benefits they provided as a whole to the entire ecosystem of Florida. Even though many acres have now been set aside for preservation, the damage already done has resulted in fragmentation of habitat that places the lives of many species of plants and animals in jeopardy. These preserved fragments often lie within close proximity to human habitation. This alone makes habitat management within the preserve a challenge as problems arise from the encroachment of landscape plants that are often exotic and invasive, domestic pets running free, and a fear of wildfire and ignorance of its benefits to several of these environments that depend upon it for health and regeneration. It is vital to educate our future generations on the needs of these habitats that we desperately should protect. Encouragement to be good land stewards should begin early. The belief that future land use should be environmentally thoughtful in the planning stages must be instilled in our young people so that past mistakes are not repeated.

The purpose of this course is to feature the important roles that pollinators play in both human wellbeing and the natural environment that we all depend on for our survival. There are many types of pollinators and most are found in abundance in Florida’s well managed natural areas. In addition, we can all help our pollinators in our own homes and cities by using plants that are native to Florida in our landscaping.

The educator should use this course to engage each student’s curiosity about the nature world that is all around them. While engaging students in the study of the “tiny world” inside a flower and connecting that understanding with the larger world of insects, birds, and mammals, students will have a greater understanding of the interconnectedness of the natural world.

What students will learn: • Pollination: definition and illustration • The diversity of pollinators • Why pollinators are important • Recycling services provided by insects and pollinators • The connections between native plants and pollinators

By partnering with a local chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, you can combine a field trip to a nearby native pollinator garden, natural area, park or preserve and engage students in the exploration of the outdoors and our natural world.

Classroom Instruction can satisfy the following Florida Standards: English Language Arts Grade: 1 Strand LAFS.1.L: Language Standards Strand LAFS.1.RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text Strand LAFS.1.RL: Reading Standards for Literature Florida Native Plant Society © 2019 Page 2 of 10

Strand LAFS.1.RF: Reading Standards: Foundational Skills (K-5) Strand LAFS.1.SL: Standards for Speaking and Listening Strand LAFS.1.W: Writing Standards

Mathematics Grade: 1 Domain-Subdomain MAFS.1.G: Geometry Domain-Subdomain MAFS.1.MD: Measurement and Data Domain-Subdomain MAFS.1.NBT: Number and Operations in Base Ten Domain-Subdomain MAFS.1.OA: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

Science Grade: 1 Body of Knowledge SC.1.E: Earth and Space Science Body of Knowledge SC.1.L: Life Science Body of Knowledge SC.1.N: Nature of Science Body of Knowledge SC.1.P: Physical Science

Please make copies of these materials for your students to use. Happy Learning!

The native plants showcased in this course are commonly found in the Central Region, which includes the following counties: Lake, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Hardee, Desoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee.

Why are pollinators important?

We can’t survive in a world without pollinators, because they help create fruits, nuts, and vegetables that provide our food as well as food for wildlife. Endangered animals like the Florida scrub jay are entirely dependent on acorns from our native oaks and we can’t have acorns without pollination.

There are many kinds of pollinators, including butterflies, bees, flies, wasps, beetles, bats, hummingbirds, and even some reptiles and even some mammals. Insect pollinators are also a food source for many fish, birds, reptiles, and even humans! In addition to providing pollination services, insects are also nature's recyclers because they eat things like dead leaves, trees, other insects and animals. Recycling returns nutrients to the soil and that helps new plants and trees grow up healthy.

What we can do to save them: protect their habitat at state parks and local preserves, create habitat at our homes by growing native plants and trees and by not using poisons (insecticides and herbicides) that kill our pollinators.

What is a Pollinator and what is Pollination?

Pollinators – butterflies, bees, flies, wasps, beetles, bats, Hummingbirds and even some reptiles and mammals.

What is Pollination? - when pollen is transferred from a flower’s stamen to the pistil of the same or another flower.

Pollen – these are the male cells on a flower’s anther (at end of the stamen) that fertilize the female cells on a flower’s stigma (at the end of the pistil).

Recycling – reusing or breaking something down into another usable form. Many insects recycle things that have died, like plants, trees, other insects and animals. Recycling returns nutrients to the soil and that helps new plants and trees grow up healthy.

Adonis blue butterflies lap at a small lump of feces lying on a rock

Everything is Connected - As indicated earlier, most plants and animals have developed dependencies upon one another for their survival and regeneration. Over hundreds of years human beings have also developed dependencies. However, for many years humans did not realize how connected they were to certain environments where other mortal beings lived and thrived. We destroyed habitats in order to grow other food sources like fruit trees, corn, and soybeans. We cut down forests to acquire lumber and pulp from trees for uses such as building homes and making paper products. Often times a forest was removed simply to make room on the earth for new housing and businesses. These activities led to soil erosion, which can cause pollution to water sources like rivers and lakes. In total, man's attempts to improve his standard of living have often resulted in the fragmentation or total destruction of ecosystems, which he, at one time, thought were unnecessary to his survival. That outlook is quickly changing. Now that scientists have made us more aware of how our actions can affect us as well as all of the plants and animals necessary to our survival, humans are interacting with our environment in a much more thoughtful manner.

Now let's look at some examples of plants, insects, and animals that rely on each other for their survival and regeneration. Though we may not always directly rely on all of these plants and creatures for our own survival, we definitely are able to enjoy watching them as they work to exist.

Native Plants of the Central Florida Region & Their Pollinators

Herbs Plant Name & Benefits Pollinators

Bee Balm – Monarda punctata • Nectar source • Attracts many bees and butterflies

Bumble Bees

Florida Greeneyes - Berlandiera subacaulis • Nectar source • Attracts many butterflies, wasps, and bumblebees

Wasps

Tropical Sage - Salvia coccinea • Nectar source for hummingbirds and other pollinators

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Yellow Buttons – Balduina angustifolia • Nectar source for numerous pollinators • Attracts a variety of butterflies

Gulf Fritillary

Garberia - Garberia heterophylla

• Attracts a variety of butterflies

Long-tailed Skipper

Herbs Plant Name & Benefits Pollinators

Twinflower – for shade – Dyschoriste oblongifolia • Larval host for Common Buckeye

Common Buckeye

Liatris species • Nectar source • Attracts many pollinators including honey and native bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and moths.

Glorius Flower Moth Schinia gloriosa

Beggarticks - Bidens Alba • Larval food source for Dainty Sulphur

Dainty Sulphur Butterfly

Groundcover Plant Name & Benefits Pollinators

Sunshine Mimosa – Mimosa strigillosa • Larval food source of Little Yellow Butterfly • Nectar source for many pollinators

Little Yellow Butterfly Shrubs Plant Name & Benefits Pollinators

Shrubs Plant Name & Benefits Pollinators

Coral Bean – Erythrina herbacea • Attracts hummingbirds and other long- tongued pollinators. • Due to its dense foliage and thorny stems, coral bean serves as a refuge for small birds and animals.

Bee Fly (Bombyliidae family)

Firebush – Hamelia patens • Excellent hummingbird and Zebra Longwing butterfly attractant • Birds and small mammals use the fruits. Zebra Longwing

Wild Coffee – Psychotria nervosa • Attracts pollinators and birds eat the fruit • A nectar source for numerous butterflies, including Atala (Eumaeus atala) and Great Southern White Attala butterfly (Ascia monuste).

• The fruits provides food for many species of birds including the Northern Mockingbird – the State bird of Florida

Great Southern White Vines Plant Name & Benefits Pollinators

Coral honeysuckle – Lonicera sempervirens • Attracts Butterflies and Hummingbirds • It is a larval host for both the Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) and Hummingbird Moths (Hemaris species) • Birds, especially cardinals, eat the seeds - digesting the outer flesh of the Hummingbird Moth fruit and aiding in distribution of the (Hemaris species) seed.

References

Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS). Database of Native Plants for Your Area: http://www.fnps.org/plants FNPS photographers: Shirley Denton, Juliet Rynear, Ginny Stibolt, Peg Lindsay

Google Advanced Search. https://www.google.com/advanced_search • Wikipedia Commons • Bob Peterson • John Flannery • Encyclopedia Britannica