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Georgia Pollinator Census

THE GREAT GEORGIA POLLINATOR CENSUS

It is likely that you have heard of the census that takes place every 10 years within the United States. Typically, it is used in order to gain information such as the age, gender, and race of individuals living in a household. You may not know, however, that there is a new type of census that only happens in Georgia and its mission is solely dedicated to understanding pollinators!

WHO STARTED THE CENSUS?

The Great Georgia Pollinator Census is run through an extension of the University of Georgia. 

WHEN IS THE CENSUS?

For the first 2019 census year, data was collected and sent into the organization on August 23rd and 24th. If you missed out on this awesome opportunity, don’t fret! Unlike the normal 10 year census, the Great Georgia Pollinator Census looks to collect data during the 2020 year as well. While we are currently living in times of uncertainty with COVID-19, the census will continue and they encourage you to observe the pollinators right in your own backyard. This year they are looking for the data collection process to occur on August 21 & August 22, 2020. 

WHAT WERE THE RESULTS OF LAST YEARS STUDY?:

According to their website, a staggering 133,963 insect visits were documented in over 133 counties within the state of Georgia! While a detailed overview has not yet been created, you can visit their website for an overview on what went into the process. 

VISIT THE WEBSITE

Website Link: https://ggapc.org/

  • Learn about who can take part in the survey(hint: Just about everyone!)
  •  Take a look at their provided booklet if you are interested in next year’s census!
  •  Are you an educator? If so, the organization provides great lesson plans to engage your students in a captivating STEM subject! 
  •  Learn how to create pollinator nesting boxes! 
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Gardening During COVID-19

GARDENING DURING COVID-19

During this time of uncertainty where we are distancing ourselves from the people and things we love, many of us are searching for something to fill our newfound free time with. One activity that is safe, productive, and a potential blessing to those in your community is to start a garden. The Food Well Alliance website is dedicated to providing you with the resources and ideas to help you get started on your gardening journey. 

ALREADY HAVE A GARDEN?

NEW TO GARDENING?

PLANT A ROW:

The “Plant a Row” movement is a great way for gardeners like you to help spread the gift of fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need within your community. By simply planting an extra row of the fruits/vegetables you are already growing within your garden, you can donate these items to a local soup kitchen or food bank. 

Right now, more families than ever are finding themselves in need of food. Will you consider helping put fresh and nutritious food on the plates of people within your community? 

ATTEND A VIRTUAL GARDEN WORKSHOP:

Not exactly sure how to get started with your garden? The Food Well Alliance organization and the Atlanta Botanical Garden understand that it can sometimes be daunting to start a garden of your own. While they typically hold in-person workshops where hands on instructions are given, this year things are looking a little bit different. 

If you visit the Food Well Alliance website, you will find several videos showing you the tips and tricks of understanding your soil’s characteristics and even how to start seeds in toilet paper rolls! 

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Stop Our Vanishing Insects

IF INSECTS VANISH, THE WORLD VANISHES WITH IT.

THE ARTICLE:

WELCOME BUGS INTO YOUR YARD. YOU MIGHT JUST SAVE THE WORLD

- The Washington Post

A DOOMED WORLD

Photo Credit: Pixabay User(Free-Photos)

Photo Credit: Pixabay User(PIRO4D)

Photo Credit: Pixabay User(Rostichep)

With the rise of modern day issues(urbanization and pesticide use) threatening the conservation of insects(including pollinators), a disaster is likely to occur if no measures are taken. While many scenarios can unfold, the worst of these will include the vanishing of almost all animals, including humans. 
Though you may be surprised to hear, the solution to preventing this scenario is you! If you are a landowner, you can take part in 4 at home activities recognized by The Washington Post that will help save our planet:

SAVE OUR INSECTS

1. BEGONE LAWN!

While many take pride in the vast amount of green grass within their lawns, it is actually not very conducive to supporting pollinators and can cause a range of environmental issues. Instead, try keeping the amount of grass you have to a minimum. 

2. INVASIVE PLANTS

Have you taken a look around your yard recently? If not, you may be unaware of any invasive or non-native plant species that are calling your lawn their home! If you do come across any plants that fall into either one of these categories, it is best to remove them and replace them with non-invasive native species. According to the article, native plants alone can beneficial to over 100 times more insects than non-native plants! 

3. POLLINATOR GARDENS

In addition to any garden that you may have now, it is always beneficial to start your own pollinator garden. With our expanding cities destroying critical pollinator habitats, we can utilize pollinator gardens to help rebuild their homes and resupply their food. 

4. MAKE THE SWITCH

While everyone strives to buy the new white LED light bulbs, you can stand out from the crowd and use the more insect friendly yellow LED bulb. This article explains that white light has negative consequences to beneficial insects while yellow light is much less harmful to their well-being.

To read all the information contained within the article, click HERE

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Pollinators and Pterodactyls

POLLINATORS AND PTERODACTYLS

Can you think of something that connects both pollinators and pterodactyls? Are you stumped yet? Well, keep reading to find out the answer! 

A DISCOVERY WAS MADE

On November 11, 2019, a research article by Tong Bao, Bo Wang, Jianguo Li, and David Dilcher was published. During their excursion to Myanmar, an exciting discovery was made in one of the most unusual and remote places; deep within a mine.

THE FOSSIL THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Within the mine, the researchers discovered a tiny beetle trapped within amber, perfectly fossilized. After getting the chance to analyze the amber, it was found that this small beetle(A. burmitina) is actually 99 million years old and that it was trapped alongside pollen grains from an old angiosperm. This was a major discovery for the team and for the world of pollinators as it pushed back the date of the first recorded pollinator approximately 50 million years! 

THE CONNECTION TO PTERODACTYLS

So, what connects pollinators and pterodactyls….the time period in which they both lived in! Going back 99 million years, into the mid-Cretaceous period, the first pollinator made its appearance and is now known to have shared the skies with the pterodactyl. Other well known animals to share the land with the first pollinator were the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptors. 

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Beekeepers in Training

CALLING ALL FUTURE BEEKEEPERS

Parents keep reading! Your child may be able to join in on the fun as well!
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THE METRO-ATLANTA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION

A One Day Only Introduction to the Fundamentals of Beekeeping

EVENT TIME & LOCATION:

January 25, 2020 at the Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta 

WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION WILL YOU RECEIVE?:

Throughout the ~ 8 hr session, you will get to hear from experts in the field of beekeeping, entomology, and botany! This informational experience will set you on the path to becoming a beekeeper yourself as you will learn valuable skills such as when to set up your hive, where to get your bees, and how to care for them. As a bonus, you will receive a 1-year membership with the Metro-Atlanta Beekeepers Association!

WHO CAN COME?:

Anyone is welcome to come, however, parents should be cautious about registering their child as this is an all day event.

WHAT IS THE FEE?:

The fee per person is $105 dollars and you should look to register before December 15, 2019

                                                                          Register Here!

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Fall Internship 2018

The Conservation and Research Department at the Atlanta Botanical garden hosted three Georgia Tech interns Autumn 2018. We chose one intern to survey pollinator gardens that were established in coordination with Park Pride in 2017, to start a baseline data on the native bees in City Parks. 

Emma Horne is a Georgia Tech Biology major student who spend three months working on a small native bee survey. Emma, started collecting samples from Vine City Park and Linsday Street Park, where we have established pollinator gardens but some of the plants were destroyed. Sadly, she had to move onto another City Park due to people vandalizing the experiment at one park. 

Following a survey protocol using pan trapping and netting, at both Lindsay Street Park and Grove Park, Emma collected a total of 49 bee specimens belonging to three bee families. 57% of the specimens were in the Apidae family, 41% Halictidae and 2% Colletidae family, with only one specimen collected. 

The highest occurring genus was Ceratina sp. Even though this was a small sampling, Emma was able to research on the plant species established at the pollinator gardens at each park. She concluded that 83% of the bee genera found corresponding to the plant species established at each pollinator garden at the parks, had data on recurring bee species visiting those plant species, so check out this blog https://gapp.org/2017/04/28/new-pollinator-gardens-in-metro-atlanta/  This is very important because even though establishing pollinator gardens is not a fix for pollinator decline it aides to our local pollinators like native bees occurring in the Atlanta Metro area to keep reproducing. 

Emma is currently at the University Of Otago in New Zeland learning about Biogeography of the country and about Conservation groups. She shared some beautiful photos of bees from the Dunedin Botanic Garden in New Zealand!

Bombus terrestris foraging on hebe, a native evergreen perennial shrub from New Zealand

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Pollinators: Climate Change and Policies

As Winter approaches the City of Atlanta is experiencing a colder Autumn when compared to last year’s temperature (September 2017: Earth’s 4th Warmest September on Record). The 2018 Hurricane season brought devastating consequences for NC, FL, and other parts of the world. For human and material losses we have the data; for the ecological damage, we are still counting. In some cases, the full extent of environmental damage will not emerge for months or years. These scenarios are a constant reminder that we have to try to understand that climate change (increasing temperature trends with erratic behavior cold to warm and vice-versa recorded since 1910 to present) is a reality that affects every single living form on this planet.

In 2018 several interviews and research studies took place around the globe on climate change and pollinator recurrence. One, in particular, caught my attention a few months ago: “Unusually Hot Spring Threw Plants, Pollinators Out of Sync in Europe” This article not only gives us a look into research on how pollinator specific relationships can be altered by climate change, but how all species react differently to its effects. We might think that planting a pollinator garden will serve to support a healthy environment for animal pollinators but it is not as simple as that.

In the US, former President Barack Obama established a Federal Strategy to Promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators in a Presidential Memoranda in 2014. As a quick Civics lesson reminder, an executive memorandum does not have to be submitted to the Federal Register, making them more difficult to pursue and accomplish, this means that is up to the citizens and researchers to keep working on this initial plan.

In May 2015, the Pollinator Research Action Plan was published. The first of three priority research themes is to:

“Develope the taxonomic capacity to establish a system of surveys and assessments that provide statistically-defensible estimates of change, distribution, abundance and health of pollinators”.

This means that institutions or citizen science initiatives on pollinator conservation should use standardized methodologies, that accurately provide baseline data in pollinator status and trends in specific areas of interest. Correct identification of pollinator communities is key; training the new generation of invertebrate taxonomists is an essential and ongoing effort. The Atlanta Botanical Garden has been working on baseline sampling in several City Paks and its grounds in the Midtown location, and training interns in native bee identification in the past months! No wonder we have been so busy!

Long-term data collection studies are essential for finding trends in insect-plant relations and climate change. Data from this surveys establish a baseline of information for the native pollinators present in introduced pollinator gardens, naturally occurring woodlands or a managed landscape such as the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Study case: Specialized Pollination of the Early spider-orchid (Ophrys sphegodes), similar studies can be done at the end of the ABG sampling in 2019.

We still have so much to do, the work never ends!

 

 

 

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Continous work and education at Pollinator Gardens.

Even though ‘Pollinators in Parks’ has come to an end, our commitment to protect and conserve pollinators and their habitats in the city continues. The five pollinator gardens are now in the community hands to make them thrive. We will be in constant communication with each community garden to monitor their progress throughout the year.

In the meantime, we have done some work at Lindsay Street Park and Blue Heron and we want to tell you all about it!

Park Pride Volunteer Manager John Ahern, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Ed Castro Landscaping and Urban Greenscapes came together to have a work day at Linsday Street Park. We coordinated with the ‘Friends of Linsday Street’ to have the community involved and to teach them to differentiate weeds from natives in the bioswale, rain garden, and pollinator garden.

 

 

Another great work day happened two weeks after: an educational morning with kids from Peace Preparatory Academy, located in northwest Atlanta. Peace prep is a small elementary school that uses Expeditionary learning a model that engages students “in intensive workshop based instruction for reading, writing, and math, and field experiences for science and social studies”.

The kids from peace prep learned about how the rain garden and pollinator garden connect with providing habitat for natives bees and other insect pollinators. We did a catch and release exercise, showed them how to use an entomological net and how to get the insects into little plastic vials. After my ‘awesome one day pupils’ caught a carpenter bee and a hornet! They observe differences between the two specimens and got a lot of questions!

Blue Heron Nature Preserve and Community Garden suffered two flooding events in 2017, most of the pollinator suitable plants did not make it, so we had to find other plants that were a bit stronger in case of another flood. On April 21st, Park Pride, Blue Heron volunteers and myself (as always representing ABG), met at the garden to plant the species below.

 

 

Amsonia tabernaemontana, Asclepias incarnata ssp. incarnata, Iris brevicaulis, Chelone glabra, Elymus riparius, Monarda punctata, Liatris spicata, Zizia aurea

We were able to knock these out in a couple hours including spreading some mulch. Hopefully, these species will last if another flood happens!

It is very important that we search and identify institutions and organizations that are doing work related to pollinator habitat conservation and protection so the conservation work can be streigthen and repetition avoided, especially when certain insect pollinators are endangered and sampling should be minimized.

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GAPP at the X Mesoamerican Conference on Native Bees

The tenth Mesoamerican Conference on Native Bees was held at the Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. The Conference was organized by the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC) and the Center for Conservation Studies (CECON) which is a scientific research institute of USAC.

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Inaugural speech by the Conference Principal Coordinator Dr. Eunice Enríquez

 

The conference was divided into two parts: three days of classes and two days of lectures, poster exhibit, and vendors. I attended the class ‘Bee genetics’ instructed by Michelle Duennes (University of California Riverside) and Oscar Martinez (ECOSUR).

The Conference had so many exciting lectures, but sadly like in any other conference, sadly I couldn´t materialize myself into several Melinas through time and space at the same time! Or did I…

However, I will highlight and share with you the most critical information and data that can be compared with native bee fauna we have in Atlanta. Furthermore, I will tell you how GAPP was received at the Conference!

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Bee Genetics class! With participants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Chile, and the US.

At this point in the game against time trying to help animal and plant species to survive anthropogenic changes to the environment, we know that fauna studies are vital to understanding relationships and interactions between species and their distribution patterns. Most plant and animal species are population indicators on ecosystems health, especially insects. But we also know that at some point we have to stop taking and start conserving by protecting species.

This particular Conference has a unique characteristic that not many scientific oriented conferences have; it encourages and has a specific space for community projects, citizen science and rural and local knowledge on the management of the stingless bee. Stingless bees or commonly known as Meliponinos are native social bee species from southern Mexico, Central America and South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia. Notably, in the Mesoamerican region (a cultural area that goes from central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Northern Costa Rica), management of meliponinos has a robust prehispanic heritage and importance. It has roots in the prehispanic cultures that thrived before the Spanish conquest. One of those Civilizations were the Mayan, who had an intrinsic and spiritual connection to the management of this bee species.

 

Terry Griswold, the first lecturer, opened the Conference talking about the “idea” that bee species increases if you go to the tropics, saying its a myth! And it has been proven over the years that bee richness and endemism are more prolific in the cold climate deserts of the world. North America has approximately 5,100 native bee species, with 176 genera, evenly divided among 6 families. Several other lecturers mentioned the importance of museum collections that should be open to the public, and how researchers have an obligation of reviewing these collections before starting a new research project.

Worldwide, several solitary bee species have been managed for crop pollination. Currently, most of this species have not had any substantial issues like Apis mellifera with CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). But, the problems have been that some of these solitary bee species are introduced to other countries for greenhouse pollination and end up scaping the greenhouse and becoming naturalized; but it is not known if they can become a pest.  One example of this is the introduction of Bombus impatiens. This bumblebee species is native to the US and very common in Georgia. it was introduced to Mexico for tomato pollination, and it escaped. Currently, it can be found naturalized in some areas, and it can become a problem, transmitting pathogens and competing for floral resources with native bee species.

Bee species Characteristics Pollinating Crops
Nomia melanderi Alkali bee, solitary native bee alfalfa
Megachile rotundata Leafcutter Solitary bee from Eurasia Alfalfa and greenhouse crop pollination like tomatoes
Osmia lignaria Native from North America Orchard pollination
Osmia cornuta Introduce from Europe Apple, pear orchards
Osmia bicornis Red mason bee Apple orchard
Osmia cornifrons Horned-face bee, a native of Northern Asia, diurnal species. Fruit crops
Xylocopa mordax Native of Dominican Republic tomatoes
Xylocopa frontalis Native of Brasil Pecan and maracuya
Trigona biroii Native of Philipines mango
Tetragonula carbonaria Sugarbag bee, Native of Australia macadamia

The State of Veracruz in Mexico is the third state with the highest floristic richness in the Mountain Mesophyll Forest (oak-pine and acahual humid forest). This habitat has approximately 65 hectares (160.6 acres) left in the state. A native bee survey was conducted in two zones of this habitat. 743 specimens were collected with 71 species identified into 5 families. Several sampling techniques were used. So, this blew my mind! Let me tell you why. In 2011 one of the 16 units that encompasses the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. 937 specimens were collected and 79 species identified, with 8 new State records, using only one sampling technique. Can you see what I see?!!! The Cochran Shoals unit is surrounded by metro Atlanta, and we know this city is one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Nevertheless, we have an incredible native bee fauna richness that needs to be protected.

Another project that was really interesting was done at the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden in Bogotá, Colombia. They did a bee inventory of the garden and found 98 native bee species. This Botanical Garden serves as a recreation and research center, especially for Andean and Páramo ecosystems. This is really interesting because it gives us an opportunity to make a future comparison with the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where we will be doing a survey this Spring!

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Last but not least, GAPP was received very enthusiastically by the people who attended the lecture. At the end of the Conference, there was a type of roundtable discussion with three researchers at the table and all attendees listening and ready to participate. Two people mentioned we needed to expand our horizons and follow the lead of the GAPP lecture! Chills!

It was discussed that a platform like GAPP is a good idea to reach and educate about Meliponinos management and culture, but also for the rest of the native bee species. Furthermore, as the Mesoamerican Conference, we needed to change the name to something more representative because we had participants from all over the world. We will be keeping in touch with our counterparts in Guatemala and making the world a better and safer place for bees and all pollinators.

 

 

 

 

 

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STEM Events at Pollinator Gardens

This year has had so many exciting projects and one of them ‘Pollinators in Parks’ – in collaboration with Park Pride and supported by the Home Depot Foundation, has been educational and environmentally conscious. As you might remember, 5 pollinator gardens where built in five different community gardens across Atlanta. Two of the five pollinator gardens where chosen to host an educational event for two different school grades and two different schools which were neighbors of the gardens.

On October 6, our first STEM Event took place at Grove Park Community Garden. Harry Clements, the garden coordinator, assisted with a tour of the community garden. Park Pride Visioning Team (Andrew White, Teri Nye and Betty Hanacek) organized an interactive game about pollen and pollination for the kids. The Atlanta Botanical Garden Conservation team (Chelsea Thomas, Emily Coffey and I) organized three different activities related to Pollinators, community gardens, and Habitats of Georgia. The Habitats of Georgia activity was aimed at the importance of ecosystem interaction through amphibians and reptiles of GA.

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Chelsea Thomas ABG Amphibian Program Coordinator, teaching kids about the importance of these animal species.

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) contributed with an interactive program on the vital importance of water. Grove Park is adjacent to the Proctor Creek. Darryl Haddock of WAWA supervised this activity as well as the completion of this first STEM Event.

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Darryl Haddock WAWA teaching kids about the importance of water in the City.

We had around 107 students of third grade from the Woodson Park Academy. Several teachers chaperoned their students while they were divided into groups to participate in each activity.

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Teri Nye-Park Pride explaining rules for pollinator game to kids!

On November 17, our second STEM event took place at Gilliam Park Community Garden. Debra Brook and Lee Watts from Gilliam Community Garden assisted with this event by teaching the students about Gilliam’s Rain Water Catchment System and their composting system area.

Park Pride and volunteers from the Atlanta Botanical Garden helped with the planting activity. Kids planted around 200 winter greens! These included collards, mustard green, cauliflower, green and red cabbage, mizuna, kohlrabi and lettuces, romaine green and red, green leaf and butterhead. Our own Carrie Radcliffe taught them about medicinal herbs of GA. Chelsea Thomas supported our second event, this time bringing only one friend, ‘a Salamander’, due to cold weather that day.

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After a catch and release activity with entomological nets, students had the opportunity to see some pinned specimens, like native solitary bees, flies, wasps, and beetles.

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We had around 100 9th grade students from Martin Luther King Jr Middle and several teachers as chaperones. We have some insightful students who were asking hard questions to our educators!

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Lee Watts teaching about composting and its importance at small scale

Both events were successful and action-packed!

‘Pollinators in Parks’ as a project is coming to an end, but the goals that were set exceeded our expectations. As we all know, everything that starts has to end but is all about transformation and progress. The next stage of this project will be surveying all five pollinator gardens and plus Linsday Street Park and Vine City Park for native bee communities. I can’t wait to tell you about what lives in our City Parks!