The Urban Pollinators Project Professor Jane Memmott, University of Bristol Outline • Urban ecology • The Urban Pollinator project Who we are What we did What we found & practical outputs • The bigger picture • Summary Background – urban habitats • Urban environments are growing worldwide. • Approximately 7% of UK area - not that much less than of nature reserves (c. 10%) • Most data from gardens – c. 25% of city area What is known about pollinators in urban habitats • Half of all bees species found in Germany can be found in the city of Berlin • Honey bees produce more honey in urban Birmingham than in the surrounding countryside. • 35% of British hoverfly species were found in a single Leicester garden 2,673 species 474 plant species 375 moth species 442 beetle species Problems with studies to date • Not replicated, 2673 species in Jennifer Owen’s garden, but n = 1 garden • No city-wide surveys of all urban habitats • Know very little about how urban species interact with other species • Urban Pollinator Project – fix these problems Outline • Urban ecology • The Urban Pollinator project Who we are What we did What we found & practical outputs • The bigger picture • Summary Urban Pollinators Project, team = 28 Academics: Universities of Bristol, Reading, Leeds & Edinburgh Taxonomists at the National Museum of Wales Practitioners in the 4 cities, CC & WT Funded by the Insect Pollinator Initiative Project staff Dr Katherine Baldock Dr Anna Scott Lynne Osgathorpe Helen Morse Dr Phillip Damien Hicks Staniczenko Mark Goddard Nadine Mitschunas + 8 field assistants each year Three questions Q1 Where exactly is the pollinator biodiversity in the UK – urban habitats, farmland or nature reserves? Q2 Where are the hot-spots of pollinator biodiversity in cities? Q3 What can we do to improve pollinator biodiversity and abundance in urban habitats? 2011 field season sampled plants and pollinators in: 1 km 12 Cities 12 Farms 12 Nature Reserves Triplets – Dundee to Southhamton The methods Preliminary results • No significant difference in abundance between urban habitats, farms and nature reserves, ie pollinators as common in urban areas as others • More bee species in cities than farms • Rare species – as many in urban areas as nature reserves and farms Baldock et al, invited resubmission Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, (will be Open Access) Three questions Q1 Where exactly is the pollinator biodiversity in the UK – urban habitats, farmland or nature reserves? Q2 Where are the hot-spots of pollinator biodiversity in cities? Q3 What can we do to improve pollinator biodiversity and abundance in urban habitats? Gardens Road verges Urban Nature Reserve Parks Cemetery/churchyard Allotment Pavement Railways Other Green Space Water Roads Man-made Surface 10 regions per city Divide city into 10 Regions Bristol Socio-economic data Sample each of the 9 habitats in each region Replication within a city Replication among cities too Bristol Reading Leeds Edinburgh Results 1: Pollinator abundance per habitat 120 1SE 100 ± 80 Bristol 60 Edinburgh Leeds 40 Reading 20 Mean abundance Mean 0 Allot Garden Cem NR Park OGS Verge P'ment MMS Data = abundance per m2 of habitat, different habitats have different areas in a city Results 2: Scaling up to the city level Small area and good for pollinators – contributes little, but potential to expand 8,000,000 7,000,000 6,000,000 Large area and good for pollinators, could be even better 5,000,000 Bristol 4,000,000 Edinburgh 3,000,000 Large areas and bad for pollinators, Leeds huge potential for improvement 2,000,000 Reading 1,000,000 Est no. pollinators per habitat per pollinatorsno. Est 0 Three questions Q1 Where exactly is the pollinator biodiversity in the UK – urban habitats, farmland or nature reserves? Q2 Where are the hot-spots of pollinator biodiversity in cities? Q3 What can we do to improve pollinator biodiversity and abundance in urban habitats? 2012-13 field seasons Field experiment 15 flower margins per city + 15 controls Bristol, Reading, Leeds & Edinburgh Practitioner collaborators 60 meadows in total Each flower margin = 300m2 Do more flowers = more pollinators? Results • High diversity of pollinators in meadows • More pollinators in meadows compared to control sites • Not picked up a population level effect so far • Perennial and annual meadows differ in flowering time and peak pollinator numbers • Public response overwhelmingly positive Hello, No query, just a quick email to say thank-you to you and your colleagues. I work in the Castlemead building, and one of the high points of my days this summer has been walking past your flower meadow in Castle Park, smelling and seeing all those blooms and all the happy insects bumbling back and forth between them. I really can't adequately express how much joy it's given me (or even explain why), some of my colleagues and presumably many, many other people. And presumably it's helped your research and the insect populations too. I very much hope you can do it again next year. Although you may wish to add some nettles or something thorny to prevent drunken festival goers tearing the flowers up next time. That was distressing. Thank-you so very much, Practical outputs • High media coverage • Public - blogged (50,000) & twitter (2000+) • Many of our 60 flower meadows are still flowering • All of us have plans for more work on urban pollinators • Will write a Policy & Practice note on urban pollinators • Have provided information for defra • Kath Baldock – NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship funded for 3 years • Just the start really! • Evidence based practical advice on pollinators in urban habitats Outline • Urban ecology • The Urban Pollinator project Who we are What we did What we found & practical outputs • The bigger picture • Summary The Norwood Farm Project Predators Butterflies Parasitoids Parasites Leaf External Gall Seed Seed-feeding Birds Miners Feeders Aphids Formers Pollinators Feeders Seed-feeding Mammals Seeds (including Leaves Flowers crops) Pictures: Clipart ETC Pollinators – most delicate part of whole network, ditto salt marsh www.urbanpollinators.org Blogged (80,000+ views) and Tweeted (3000+ followers) Acknowledgements Multiple landowners for site access Taxonomists Funders Mike Wilson Partners John Deeming Bristol City Council Brian Levy Reading Borough Council Mark Pavett Leeds City Council Ray Barnett City of Edinburgh Council Avon Wildlife Trust Field teams Yorkshire Wildlife Trust 24 field assistants Berks, Bucks, Oxon Wildlife Trust Access to data Meadows: Bristol City Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology supporters/collaborators City of Edinburgh Council Duncan Westbury Greenspace Scotland Rigby Taylor Leeds City Council Emorsgate Seeds Ordnance Survey CPS Grounds Ltd Reading Borough Council The Landscape Group South Gloucestershire Council Quadron Services Ltd Wokingham Borough Council West Berkshire Council Thank you for listening.