California State Library, April 20, 2023

with Dr. Hillary Sardinas, Senior Environmental Scientist Wildlife Diversity Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Such a treat to have a free lecture on a subject that I would love to learn more about–our pollinators. I only know the basics for the need to attract pollinators to the garden: they help pollinate your fruits and vegetables, important for the ecosystem, and are in decline. What I don’t know about are the details and the specifics of the pollinator as it applies to the state of California.

Pollinators include beetles, butterflies. moths, flies, wasps, and bees. Non-insect pollinators include hummingbirds and bats. In South Africa, there are pollinating lizards. Most of this lecture focused on native bees in California.

Bees are diverse and can range in different shapes and sizes including jeweled, wasps, fuzzy, sweat, and bumblebees. Some facts include 20,000 species of bees, possibly more in the world and 3,600-4,000 species in the United States, and 1,700 of those species being endemic in California. Some facts include:

• 90% of bees are solitary
• 70% of bees are ground-nesting
• 30% of bees are tunnel nesting
• Mediterranean climates best support bees (desert and temperate climates follow)

California is a bee biodiversity hotspot and that is aided by the high abundance of blooms between April and June. The reasons for a decline in bees is similar to the decline of other native pollinators. There has been a downward trajectory with a 41% insect decline in the past decade, which has been dubbed the “Insect Apocolypse.” Some of the reasons include:

• Habitat loss – loss, destruction, or degrading of habitats
• Disease – an example would be a fungal pathogen from commercial bees which affected native bees
• Pesticides – there has been an increase in pesticide use over the past 20-30 years
• Climate change – extreme temperatures are lethal to the insect body, for example bumblebees prefer temperate climate and cannot endure extreme temperatures
• Competition with non-native species – other non-native species which could harm native species or compete for food.

While this may sound overwhelming, it is with actions that we can take to improve the native pollinator population. Here are some things that Dr. Sardinas recommends you can do to help pollinators:

1. Convert lawns into diverse natural habitats — a 10% partial conversion of every lawn space in the country into native habitat could increase the habitat for pollinators to 4 million acres (see Homegrown National Parks)
2. Grow native plants–native pollinators are attracted to native plants (see Calscape by California Native Plant Society for a listing of native plants that is suitable for your location)
3. Reduce pesticide use – eliminate the use, if possible. Suburban and urban areas combined use more pesticide than agriculture due to lawn maintenance.
4. Reduce exterior lighting – use motion sensor lights and dim lights or turn them off so night pollinators such as moths, are not confused. Amber or red lights do not affect night insects, limit the use of blue-violet light.
5. Counter negative perceptions of insects – accepting insects as a part of the ecosystem and not a nuisance, would help their image
6. Become an educator, ambassador, and advocate for insect conservation.
7. Participate as a community scientist by contributing to data as a citizen scientist. Programs include: CA Bumblebee Atlas, Monarch genomics project, iNaturalist, The Great Sunflower Project, Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, Bumblebee Watch, Western Monarch Milkweed Map, etc.
8. Purchase products with the Bee Friendly Farming Certification where argricultural farms are participants in create an environment that is bee and pollinator friendly.

After attending this lecture, I felt the I had a better understanding of how the pollinator ecosystem worked and how important biodiversity is for the state of California.

Here’s a link to this lecture if you’re interested in watching it yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R__3_qDnz0