Sensitive Sites: Pollinators

Judy Wu-Smart Author

11/30/2018 Added

8 Plays

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Pollinators are valued for pollinating crops and vegetables. Pollinators such as bees, however, are in decline. Hear tips on how to protect pollinators, including a DriftWatch segment.

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[00:00:00.465](upbeat music)
[00:00:17.140]Hi, I'm Judy Wu-Smart.
[00:00:18.950]I am an assistant professor
[00:00:21.070]and extension specialist for UNL.
[00:00:23.890]We're here at the Eastern Nebraska Research
[00:00:26.770]and Extension Center.
[00:00:28.600]We're here to talk about the importance of pollinators,
[00:00:30.930]particularly bees in agricultural settings.
[00:00:33.820]Bee's are critical pollinators for not only
[00:00:36.730]our native landscapes, but for numerous crops.
[00:00:39.330]Over 130 different fruits, vegetables, and nuts depend
[00:00:43.260]on the services that these bees provide, and so we're here
[00:00:46.590]to talk a little bit more about the landscape
[00:00:48.730]and how bees are impacted by agricultural practices.
[00:00:52.830]In the state of Nebraska we have a lot of changes and really
[00:00:56.260]landscapes are utilized for a lot of agriculture production,
[00:00:59.547]as well as urbanization.
[00:01:02.110]And so these bees are impacted by the changes
[00:01:05.259]in these landscapes, particularly because it reduces
[00:01:08.290]the amount, and the abundance and diversity of resources
[00:01:12.080]such as these flowers out here, which would really, are
[00:01:16.190]critical for their nutrition and their health in general.
[00:01:19.390]There are over 3600 different species of bees
[00:01:24.500]in the United States, 20,000 worldwide.
[00:01:28.920]Several of these species are used as managed pollinators
[00:01:33.130]for crop production, but there are thousands more that are
[00:01:36.930]just in the landscape, and we have very little knowledge
[00:01:40.220]about how our practices are impacting their health.
[00:01:44.100]So some of these managed pollinators are the honey bees
[00:01:46.860]and bumble bees, also some mason bees and blue orchard bees;
[00:01:50.440]they're critical for pollinating the orchards and the crops
[00:01:54.540]and not all plants require insect pollination.
[00:01:58.057]However some do get a benefit and yield.
[00:02:04.280]Pollination also improves taste and uniformity in some of
[00:02:07.730]these plants and crops, and then all the while pollinators
[00:02:11.380]are helping us shape the landscape for other wildlife.
[00:02:17.050]And so they're critical to sustaining Nebraska's resources
[00:02:20.360]and our landscapes and our natural habitats.
[00:02:23.030]So there's a lot of concern over the role pesticides play
[00:02:26.210]in affecting bee health, and there are a lot of different
[00:02:29.100]types of chemicals, so when we're discussing the impact
[00:02:32.270]that pesticides, we really do have
[00:02:33.740]a lot of considerations to make.
[00:02:35.560]Not all compounds will outright kill a bee, some will cause
[00:02:39.380]behavioral or cognitive impairments, and these sublethal
[00:02:43.720]effects can affect their ability to forage for resources
[00:02:46.590]and rear a brood and successfully survive.
[00:02:49.037]Some of these can also weaken their immune system
[00:02:51.980]so that they become more susceptible
[00:02:53.622]to diseases and parasites.
[00:02:55.873]There are other chemicals that cause indirect effects
[00:02:59.070]such as herbicides, when you spray down an entire landscape
[00:03:02.712]to remove all the flowering weeds.
[00:03:07.210]You're essentially eliminating the abundance
[00:03:09.270]and diversity of forage for those bee's.
[00:03:11.720]And that can alter their ability to amount
[00:03:15.570]immune responses to fight some of the diseases
[00:03:18.940]and parasites that they have to deal with.
[00:03:20.750]And so it can critically weaken a colony
[00:03:23.990]or the bee's themselves.
[00:03:25.068]So what I like people to remember is to practice
[00:03:28.542]pesticide stewardship and integrate a pesticide management
[00:03:34.480]is a critical piece in that.
[00:03:36.400]Just remember that the landscape, you're trying to
[00:03:40.010]not only produce a crop but protect the resources
[00:03:42.980]of that landscape.
[00:03:43.880]And that includes the pollinators.
[00:03:46.100]So think about timing of applications,
[00:03:48.940]think about the actual compounds in those applications.
[00:03:51.450]Think about what you have around in your landscape.
[00:03:54.652]Try to mow down weeds before you spray.
[00:03:57.197]Try to make weeds and flowering plants available
[00:04:01.040]for those pollinators.
[00:04:02.110]So they do have somewhere to go, away from the field
[00:04:05.560]where the target application is occurring.
[00:04:08.470]And so there are a lot of considerations to make
[00:04:10.610]but there is a way to find balance between crop production
[00:04:13.955]and pollinators through protection.
[00:04:23.727]Hello my name's Craig Romary
[00:04:25.100]with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture,
[00:04:27.150]and today I'll be talking about Driftwatch and BeeCheck.
[00:04:30.365]Both of these can be considered the same thing.
[00:04:34.760]They're an online registry and map
[00:04:36.700]for commercial specialty crops.
[00:04:38.377]That usually are smaller in size, and may not be
[00:04:41.798]as noticeable out there in the landscape.
[00:04:45.150]They're potentially more sensitive to pesticide injury
[00:04:48.593]and crop loss.
[00:04:50.920]The main purpose of this service is
[00:04:53.540]to promote communication.
[00:04:54.870]Two way communication between pesticide applicators
[00:04:57.678]and the people that have those specialty crops
[00:05:00.490]and apiary sites.
[00:05:03.400]This is an example of the Driftwatch map
[00:05:05.550]showing a variety of crops.
[00:05:08.168]And you can zoom into those locations to get a better
[00:05:11.620]idea of where they're at.
[00:05:13.970]And you can click on any of those bubbles
[00:05:16.610]to get the contact information for the grower
[00:05:20.010]having that site, if they have made
[00:05:22.140]that contact information available.
[00:05:24.650]And if so, you can contact them and you can let them know
[00:05:27.027]what you plan to do in that area.
[00:05:31.170]So there are three ways you can use this service.
[00:05:33.468]The first way is to just simply go to the website
[00:05:37.430]and I'll provide that url later.
[00:05:40.480]And this is free of charge.
[00:05:41.770]You'll be able to see all of the crop sites
[00:05:43.550]and most of the beehives.
[00:05:46.020]Bee keepers have the option to only display their sites
[00:05:49.460]to registered applicators.
[00:05:51.570]Applicators who are registered in Driftwatch
[00:05:54.950]and so you may not see all of them at the public map.
[00:05:58.350]The second way is to register yourself
[00:06:01.810]on Fieldwatch and Driftwatch as an applicator.
[00:06:04.640]And that's also free of charge.
[00:06:06.980]You'll be able to see all of the crop sites,
[00:06:09.200]all of the beehives, and you'll get email notifications
[00:06:11.826]when new information is added to the map
[00:06:14.630]in the area that you select.
[00:06:16.830]And lastly on this section, you'll be able to download
[00:06:19.377]the Fieldcheck app and that's new this year.
[00:06:22.570]Available on your smartphones so that you'll
[00:06:24.680]have that information readily at hand.
[00:06:28.170]And the last thing is a data member membership
[00:06:31.700]for data subscription.
[00:06:33.720]And that is an annual fee from Fieldwatch
[00:06:36.691]and you can, by having that, you'll be able to get
[00:06:40.250]that data to your mapping software.
[00:06:43.510]And that is also free of charge for federal local state
[00:06:47.020]government agencies as well,
[00:06:48.470]so please you can take advantage of that service.
[00:06:52.150]So this is the website, fieldwatch.com.
[00:06:55.809]And this is where applicators need to go to register.
[00:06:59.130]Clicking this image right here of the airplane
[00:07:02.010]and it's also called Fieldwatch.
[00:07:04.410]And if you don't wanna register,
[00:07:06.630]if you just want to go to the Driftwatch map,
[00:07:09.480]you can go to the address down at the bottom of the screen.
[00:07:13.532]And that's all I have, if you have any questions
[00:07:17.122]this is my contact information and I'll try to help you
[00:07:20.820]as best I can.
[00:07:22.507](upbeat music)

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Sensitive Sites: Pollinators

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