2018 Research in the Capitol
Presentation Type
Open Access Poster Presentation
Keywords
Prairie restoration--Iowa; Prairie plants--Iowa; Bees--Habitat--Iowa; Butterflies--Habitat--Iowa;
Abstract
Over 90 percent of Iowa’s land is devoted to cultivated row crops and pasture, which has caused a decline in biodiversity and habitat for many bee and butterfly species. To restore lost ecosystems and conserve pollinator diversity, the USDA recently developed a new Conservation Reserve Program Pollinator Habitat conservation practice (CP-42). Since 2012, Iowa farmers have enrolled over 200,000 acres in this program with little evaluation of its effectiveness. In 2017, a team of students and faculty from the University of Northern Iowa and Tallgrass Prairie Center developed methods to evaluate vegetation and pollinator activity in CP-42 restoration plantings. Using this new protocol, we recorded over 300 individual pollinator sightings and 15 different species of butterfly. In 2018-2019, the team will evaluate pollinator habitat plantings on ~60 farms in central Iowa.
Start Date
3-4-2018 11:30 AM
End Date
3-4-2018 1:30 PM
Event Host
University Honors Programs, Iowa Regent Universities
Faculty Advisor
Mark Myers
Department
Department of Biology
Department
Tallgrass Prairie Center
Copyright
©2018 Chandler Dolan, Kathleen Madsen, Mark Myers, and Ai Wen
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Dolan, Chandler; Madsen, Kathleen; Myers, Mark; and Wen, Ai, "Bee and Butterfly Response to Floral Resources in Central Iowa Prairie Restorations" (2018). Research in the Capitol. 2.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/rcapitol/2018/all/2
Bee and Butterfly Response to Floral Resources in Central Iowa Prairie Restorations
Over 90 percent of Iowa’s land is devoted to cultivated row crops and pasture, which has caused a decline in biodiversity and habitat for many bee and butterfly species. To restore lost ecosystems and conserve pollinator diversity, the USDA recently developed a new Conservation Reserve Program Pollinator Habitat conservation practice (CP-42). Since 2012, Iowa farmers have enrolled over 200,000 acres in this program with little evaluation of its effectiveness. In 2017, a team of students and faculty from the University of Northern Iowa and Tallgrass Prairie Center developed methods to evaluate vegetation and pollinator activity in CP-42 restoration plantings. Using this new protocol, we recorded over 300 individual pollinator sightings and 15 different species of butterfly. In 2018-2019, the team will evaluate pollinator habitat plantings on ~60 farms in central Iowa.
Comments
UNI Conservation Corps project. Pollinator Habitat Evaluation Services - 6 student fellows with Professor Laura Jackson, Tallgrass Prairie Center.