" The Pollination Equation" 2009 Pollinator Poster.
Credit: Steve Buchanan
Celebrate National Pollinator Week, June 22-28, 2009!
List of species featured in the Pollinator Equation poster
More information about selected species in the poster.
Visit the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service special events database to find a program near you. Many of our National Wildlife Refuges feature a variety of fun, family oriented activities, including butterfly counts, eagle watches and wildlife festivals.
Join us in celebrating National Pollinator Week. Take this opportunity to appreciate the hard-working animals that help pollinate over 75% of our flowering plants, and nearly 75% of our crops. Often we may not notice the hummingbirds, bats, bees, beetles, butterflies, and flies that carry pollen from one plant to another as they collect nectar. Yet without them, wildlife would have fewer nutritious berries and seeds, and we would miss many fruits, vegetables, and nuts, like blueberries, squash, and almonds . . . not to mention chocolate and coffee…all of which depend on pollinators.
Learn more about pollinators by viewing fun and educational materials on pollinators, including:
- An online clubhouse (Neighborhood Explorers)
- learn about Lucy's pizza garden, then make your own pizza from pollinated foods.
Activity guide (Go! Wild)
- learn about pollinators at Rocky Mountain National
Wildlife Refuge, then match plants to pollinators and enjoy other games. Can you guess which animals pollinate plants in your yard?
Podcasts - listen to broadcasts about native bees, endangered pollinators, pollinator gardens and backyard habitat, and a
view a video clip from Green Springs Garden. Are you providing good habitat for pollinators in your yard?
Webcasts (Monarch Live) - take a trip on this website to "see" monarch habitat across North America and learn about the great migration of monarchs, their habitats in winter and summer, and how you can help.
A monarch butterfly website - learn how to tell a monarch butterfly from a viceroy butterfly, how monarchs get out of their chrysalis, why they gather on trees overwinter, and lots of other fun facts. Are monarchs found in your area? When?
The Nature's Partner's Curriculum - fun activities for clubs, schools, and families to learn about pollinators. Children may need some help from adults with many of these activities.
We will be adding more information from now through Pollinator Week about pollinators and how you can help them. Come back and visit us soon!
Download a variety of resources about pollinators, pollinator week, and what you can do to help pollinators at: http://www.pollinator.org
Note: The celebration of Pollinator Week started in 2007, when the U.S. Senate designated Pollinator Week in Resolution 580.
How You Can Help
Pollinators need your help! There is increasing evidence that many pollinators are in decline. However, there are some simple things you can do at home to encourage pollinator diversity and abundance.
1) Plant a Pollinator Garden
2) Build a Bee Box
3) Avoid or Limit Pesticide Use
WHY
POLLINATORS ARE IMPORTANT
Pollinators, such
as bees, birds, bats and insects, play a crucial role
in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most
fruits and vegetables.
Examples of crops that are pollinated include apples, squash, and almonds. Without the assistance of pollinators, most plants cannot produce fruits and seeds. The fruits and seeds of flowering plants are an important food source for people and wildlife. Some of the seeds that are not eaten will eventually produce new plants, helping to maintain the plant population.
Honey bees pollinate approximately $15 Billion worth of crops in the U.S. each year. The value of pollination services provided by native bees and other wildlife is even greater. It is estimated that honeybees only pollinate 15% of the most common food crops worldwide.
A recent study of the status of pollinators in North America by the National Academy of Sciences found that populations of honey bees (which are not native to North America) and some wild pollinators are declining. Declines in wild pollinators may be a result of habitat loss and degradation, while declines in managed bees is linked to disease (introduced parasites and pathogens).
WHAT IS POLLINATION?
Pollination results when the pollen from the male part of the flower (stamen) is moved to the female part of the same or another flower (stigma) and fertilizes it, resulting in the production of fruits and seeds. Some flowers rely on the wind to move pollen, while other rely on animals to move pollen.
Animals visit flowers in search of food and sometimes even mates, shelter and nest-building materials. Some animals, such as many bees, intentionally collect pollen, while others, such as many butterflies and birds, move pollen incidentally because the pollen sticks on their body while they are collecting nectar from the flowers. All of these animals are considered pollinators. |
News and Activities:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) will be celebrating National Pollinator Week with a new Demonstration Pollinator Garden outside the Entry building, and displays inside the Entry Building from June 22 - 26, 2009.
NEW! Learn more about pollinators and how you can help pollinators! View the new video of Service staff and volunteers planting a Demonstration Pollinator Garden at the Service's National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
The Department of the Interior Indian Craft Shop will be featuring Pollinators in American Indian Art from June 20-26 in celebration of National Pollinator Week. Pollinators and pollinated plants featured or used in art will be displayed, along with information cards about pollinators and the plants they pollinate
Neighborhood Explorers: Learn about pollinators and other wildlife using Neighborhood Explorers. Pollinators are featured in "Lucy's Story", "Lucy's Challenge", and "NX Detective Game".
Neighborhood Explorers
Captive breeding used to boost declining population of Lange's Metalmark butterflies (Apodemia mormo langei) at Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. Image credit: David Kelly/USFWS
News Release
In celebration of National Pollinator Week 2008, we developed a week long series of podcasts on a variety of pollinator topics.
PowerPoint Presentation: "The Birds and the Bees and . . .The Beetles? Why we should care about pollinators"
Monarch Butterflies are also featured on a new Web Site, a joint effort with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, USDA-Forest Service, and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. (6/2007)
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