Pollinators important to maintaining plant species

Recognizing the importance of pollinators “to our environment, economy and collective well-being,” June 21-27, has been proclaimed as Pollinator Week, and Wisconsinites are encouraged to help pollinators by creating and maintaining habitat, and monitoring bees and butterflies. Pollinators visit flowering plants and transfer pollen from flower to flower, allowing the plants to reproduce.

Of all flowering plants worldwide, 75-95 percent need pollinators to help reproduce, according to the Pollinator Partnership, which organized the awareness week. In addition to providing much of the food people eat, these flowering plants feed wildlife, and support healthy ecosystems that clean the air and stabilize soil.

Unfortunately, populations of many pollinators, including several bumble bees and butterflies, are in decline.

“One of the biggest threats pollinators face is habitat loss,” said Owen Boyle, DNR species management section chief. “The good news is that anyone can help pollinators, by creating and maintaining places where pollinators can flourish.”

Pollinators benefit from habitat creation at any scale, from a few native plants on an apartment balcony, to large-scale prairie restorations. People can create habitat for pollinators to nest and get food, by planting native wildflowers, minimizing or eliminating pesticide use, and leaving areas unmanicured.

Uncut grass, brush piles, woody debris and patches of bare earth are important pollinator habitats.