Conservation of Native Pollinators

 By Selby Vaughn

Katia Landauer, Prof. Primack and I visited conservation land at Breakneck Hill in Southborough to meet with Rob Gegear, a professor of ecology at U-Mass Dartmouth. 

Rob points out abundant native pollinators.

Rob is a huge advocate for creating more effective native pollination ecosystems, a more expansive system way of conserving native pollinators than more typical pollinator gardens. 

Rob's native pollination system.

The native pollination system which Rob has planted uses a wider diversity of native plants to encourage a wider diversity of pollinators. 

Meadowsweet, a plant favored by many native bees.

Most pollinator gardens tend to use ornamental plants and cater mainly to honeybees and common bumblebees. Rob’s garden, however, uses native plants favored by a wide variety of native pollinators, such as bee balm and shrubby St. John’s Wort. His goal is to create native pollinator systems that will increase native biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. 

Observing native pollinators in a natural environment.