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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Content produced by the Northwest Climate Hub
Native pollinators (bees, moths, butterflies, and other insects) play an essential role in farm production.
An estimated two-thirds of the world’s crop species depend on insect pollination. Bees alone support 45% of crop pollination in Massachusetts. Managed honey bees are commonly used as a way to pollinate crops. However, commercial honey bees do not provide the same pollination quality as a diverse mix of native insects. Improved pollinator habitat can increase the presence of native pollinators on working vegetable, fruit, and grain farmland.
Content produced by the Northeast Climate Hub
Notice: This project page is no longer being updated as of January 2023.
Content produced by the Northeast Climate Hub
What are Pollinators?
Pollinators are animals (primarily insect, but sometimes birds or mammals) that fertilize plants, resulting in the formation of seeds and the fruit surrounding seeds. Humans and other animals rely on pollinators to produce nuts and fruits that are essential components of a healthy diet. Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce.
Content produced by the Midwest Climate Hub
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Content produced by the Northwest Climate Hub
Leer en español: Agrovoltaica: ¿Próximamente en un campo cerca de usted?
Content produced by the Northeast Climate Hub
The milkweed plant has a range of benefits. These include its conservation value as monarch habitat, its pollinator services attracting pollinators for many crops, and its potential as a crop itself for the seed and floss fiber. Over the past 10 years, farmers have shifted their views on milkweed from a weed to a potentially valuable plant.
In Vermont, several farmers have gained a new appreciation for common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). They are encouraging it for its pollinator benefits and even intentionally cultivating it as a crop for its floss and seed.
Content produced by the Northeast Climate Hub
Native plant species differ in a number of biological factors including evolutionary history, plant traits and local adaptation. Therefore, the strategies involved in seed collection, seed production and restoration must be customized to each species. An understanding of these factors can be used to optimize restoration for important plant species in the Great Basin, and sagebrush ecosystems across the West. Thus, researchers in the U.S.
Content produced by the Southwest Climate Hub