Citizen science initiatives increase pollinator activity in private gardens and green spaces
Persson, Anna S. LU ; Hederström, Veronica LU ; Ljungkvist, Iris ; Nilsson, Lovisa LU
and Kendall, Liam
LU
(2023)
In Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
4.
- Abstract
Wild insect pollinators are essential to cultivated and natural ecosystems globally. Today, many pollinator species are declining. One reason is a general lack of flowering habitats at landscape scales. However, urban areas, including private gardens, may provide flowers, and constitute beneficial habitats for pollinators. Here, we evaluate the ecological outcomes of a citizen science campaign run by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) (called “Operation: Save the bees”), encouraging citizens to incorporate interventions beneficial to wild pollinators (garden meadows, flower plantings, and bee hotels) in their gardens. Data on insect observations and flowering plants were collected through online questionnaires at the end... (More)
Wild insect pollinators are essential to cultivated and natural ecosystems globally. Today, many pollinator species are declining. One reason is a general lack of flowering habitats at landscape scales. However, urban areas, including private gardens, may provide flowers, and constitute beneficial habitats for pollinators. Here, we evaluate the ecological outcomes of a citizen science campaign run by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) (called “Operation: Save the bees”), encouraging citizens to incorporate interventions beneficial to wild pollinators (garden meadows, flower plantings, and bee hotels) in their gardens. Data on insect observations and flowering plants were collected through online questionnaires at the end of the growing season. In total, we received 3,758 responses for the three interventions. We found that participants were more likely to observe many pollinators (as opposed to few or none) in more species rich garden meadows, and in larger and older plantings. The surrounding environment also affected pollinator abundance: fewer pollinators were observed in plantings in dense urban areas. Direct counts of pollinators during 10-min surveys correlated strongly to the simplistic abundance assessment (none, few, or many insects seen over the summer season). Bee hotel occupancy was positively related to local flower availability and bee hotel age. Smaller nest holes (<10 mm) were more occupied than larger holes (11–15 mm) and hotels in rural gardens and natural/semi-natural sites were more occupied than those in urban gardens. This study demonstrates that flower-rich private gardens provide integral habitat for wild pollinators and that citizen science programs can provide a tool for implementing and evaluating conservation practices. However, longer lasting commitment resulting in older interventions are preferable and should be encouraged in future campaigns.
(Less)
- author
- Persson, Anna S.
LU
; Hederström, Veronica
LU
; Ljungkvist, Iris
; Nilsson, Lovisa
LU
and Kendall, Liam
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-01-11
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- bee hotel, flower plantings, garden meadow, pollinator conservation, urban green space (UGS)
- in
- Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
- volume
- 4
- article number
- 1099100
- pages
- 13 pages
- publisher
- Frontiers Media S. A.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85147023060
- ISSN
- 2624-9634
- DOI
- 10.3389/frsc.2022.1099100
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Funding Information: AP was funded by Formas (Grant no. 2019-01524). VH was partly funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement no. 819374). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Persson, Hederström, Ljungkvist, Nilsson and Kendall.
- id
- 66f39568-1602-4f3f-ad81-97ec14977afc
- date added to LUP
- 2023-02-06 11:23:47
- date last changed
- 2023-02-06 14:41:22
@article{66f39568-1602-4f3f-ad81-97ec14977afc,
abstract = {{<p>Wild insect pollinators are essential to cultivated and natural ecosystems globally. Today, many pollinator species are declining. One reason is a general lack of flowering habitats at landscape scales. However, urban areas, including private gardens, may provide flowers, and constitute beneficial habitats for pollinators. Here, we evaluate the ecological outcomes of a citizen science campaign run by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) (called “Operation: Save the bees”), encouraging citizens to incorporate interventions beneficial to wild pollinators (garden meadows, flower plantings, and bee hotels) in their gardens. Data on insect observations and flowering plants were collected through online questionnaires at the end of the growing season. In total, we received 3,758 responses for the three interventions. We found that participants were more likely to observe many pollinators (as opposed to few or none) in more species rich garden meadows, and in larger and older plantings. The surrounding environment also affected pollinator abundance: fewer pollinators were observed in plantings in dense urban areas. Direct counts of pollinators during 10-min surveys correlated strongly to the simplistic abundance assessment (none, few, or many insects seen over the summer season). Bee hotel occupancy was positively related to local flower availability and bee hotel age. Smaller nest holes (<10 mm) were more occupied than larger holes (11–15 mm) and hotels in rural gardens and natural/semi-natural sites were more occupied than those in urban gardens. This study demonstrates that flower-rich private gardens provide integral habitat for wild pollinators and that citizen science programs can provide a tool for implementing and evaluating conservation practices. However, longer lasting commitment resulting in older interventions are preferable and should be encouraged in future campaigns.</p>}},
author = {{Persson, Anna S. and Hederström, Veronica and Ljungkvist, Iris and Nilsson, Lovisa and Kendall, Liam}},
issn = {{2624-9634}},
keywords = {{bee hotel; flower plantings; garden meadow; pollinator conservation; urban green space (UGS)}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
publisher = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
series = {{Frontiers in Sustainable Cities}},
title = {{Citizen science initiatives increase pollinator activity in private gardens and green spaces}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.1099100}},
doi = {{10.3389/frsc.2022.1099100}},
volume = {{4}},
year = {{2023}},
}