ABUZZ FOR POLLINATORS

From gorgeous gardens to a fruitful food supply, here’s how it happens and how you can help

We have heard bees are important to our food supply. But how do they do their work? What else plays a part in the process? And can we help? The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is a good source for answers along with local resources.

What is pollination?

Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma. The goal of every living organism, including plants, is to create offspring for the next generation. One of the ways that plants can produce offspring is by making seeds. Seeds contain the genetic information to produce a new plant.

Flowers are the tools that plants use to make their seeds. Seeds can only be produced when pollen is transferred between flowers of the same species. A species is defined as a population of individuals capable of interbreeding freely with one another but because of geographic, reproductive or other barriers, they do not interbreed with members of other species.

To get from one flower to another, flowers must rely on vectors to move pollen. These vectors can include wind, water, birds, insects, butterflies, bats and other animals that visit flowers. Pollination is usually the unintended consequence of an animal’s activity on a flower. The pollinator is often eating or collecting pollen for its protein and other nutritional characteristics, or it is sipping nectar from the flower when pollen grains attach themselves to the animal’s body. When the animal visits another flower for the same reason, pollen can fall off onto the flower’s stigma and may result in successful reproduction of the flower.

Why is it important?

Virtually all the world’s seed plants need to be pollinated. This is just as true for cone-bearing plants, such as pine trees, as for the more colorful and familiar flowering plants. Pollen, looking like insignificant yellow dust, bears a plant’s male sex cells and is a vital link in the reproductive cycle.

Pollination is an essential ecological survival function. Without pollinators, the human race and all of earth’s terrestrial ecosystems would not survive. Of the 1,400 crop plants grown around the world, i.e., those that produce all our food and plantbased industrial products, almost 80% require pollination by animals. Visits from bees and other pollinators also result in larger, more flavorful fruits and higher crop yields. In the United States alone, pollination of agricultural crops is valued at $10 billion annually. Globally, pollination services are likely worth more than $3 trillion.

Who are pollinators?

Animal pollinators play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most fruits and vegetables.

Bees are the champion pollinators. In the United States, there are over 4,000 species of native bees.

Wasps look like bees but are generally not covered with fuzzy hairs. As a result, they are much less efficient in pollinating flowers, because pollen is less likely to stick to their bodies and be moved from flower to flower.

Butterflies are less efficient than bees. Highly perched on their long thin legs, they do not pick up much pollen on their bodies and lack specialized structures for collecting it.

Hummingbirds are key in wildflower pollination. In the southwestern states, there are a dozen species of hummingbirds.

Others include ants, bats, beetles, flies, moths and lizards.

How to help them

Plant native flowers that bloom at different times. Local nurseries can help make the selections.

Place a shallow dish of water on your deck or window sill. Include some rocks in the dish so pollinators can land to drink without the risk of drowning.

Leave some leaves in the fall for food and shelter in the winter.

Limit the use of pesticides. Pollinators can be harmed if they consume nectar or pollen that has come into contact with pesticides. Read the instructions and talk with local nurseries.

The Albuquerque Garden Center has resources on its website: albuquerquegardencenter.org/ gardeninginformation/

It’s spring! Make a lovely garden and help the pollinators. Seed packets are affordable and make a great project for kids.