Agroforestry Helps Sustain Native Bee Habitat

The U.S. has suffered devastating losses of its honeybee populations from what is known as “colony collapse disorder.”  This event has placed greater importance on protecting and enhancing native bee and other native pollinator populations.  The USDA National Agroforestry Center has collaborated with The Xerces Society to develop a series of four technical notes describing how agroforestry practices can be used to aid native bees.  In the past, native bees and feral honey bees could meet the pollination needs of small orchards, tomato and pumpkin fields, and berry patches because these farms were typically adjacent to areas of habitat that harbored important pollinators.  Today, many farms are larger and at the same time have less nearby habitat to support native pollinators.  To ensure adequate pollination, producers now rely on European honey bees.   Research however, shows that native bees can be important pollinators in agricultural fields as long as enough habitat is available.  Whether growing a hedgerow or windbreak, managing a riparian buffer, or farming near forests, agroforestry practices can increase the overall diversity of plants and physical structure in a landscape and as a result, provide habitat for native pollinators.

Agroforestry: Sustaining Native Bee Habitat for Crop Pollination provides a general background on habitat needs that can be achieved using agroforestry practices.   Improving Forage for Native Bee Crop Pollinators explains how agroforestry can enhance the abundance and diversity of nectar and pollen sources for native bees.   Enhancing Nest Sites for Native Bee Crop Pollinators highlights how modifications in agroforestry practice, design, and management can improve nesting opportunities.  A fourth technical note, available on the National Agroforestry Center Website early this summer, will address how agroforestry can help mitigate the impacts of pesticides on pollinators.

The National Agroforestry Center staff wish to thank Mace Vaughan and Scott Hoffman Black with The Xerces Society for authoring these technical notes.  For specific plant recommendations for pollinators, visit the NRCS Plants Database.  For general information, go to The Xerces Society’s Pollinator Conservation Program Website.
Your contact is Bruce Wight,  NRCS Lead Agroforester, at 402-437-5178, ext. 36.