To further Wild Ones’ mission to connect people with native plants, we are excited to continue this monthly blog focused on native plants in the national news. This regular feature aims to educate, engage, and inspire action by highlighting conservation efforts and scientific findings related to native flora.
Honeybees Outcompete Native Bee Species
A study out of Neal Williams’ Lab at UC Davis has found that honeybees (Apis mellifera) can outcompete native bees for pollen and nectar in some wildflower habitats planted along agriculture borders which can impact these habitats ability to support bee biodiversity. This competition’s impact on the nutritional quality of wild bee diets was taxon-dependent, with Bombus spp. and Megachilid bees being most affected. Smaller bee species, such as Halictid bees (e.g. Lasioglossum spp.), were unaffected by honeybee competition, likely due to lower and different energy needs. The decreased diet quality that the affected bee species are experiencing can impact native bee populations by reducing larva survival and adult body size and make them more susceptible to other stressors they may face such as disease and pesticide exposure. Additionally, where honeybees are present, authors found that bees such as Osmia glauca collect less pollen from their preferred host plant, purple Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla), which suggests that this competition could impact specialized plant-pollinator relationships.
The study also found that the competition between honeybees and native bees could be reduced by planting diverse, nutritious flowers to support the pollen and nectar bees require. Highlighting the need for diverse flower species in a planting, species in this study such as Clarkia spp. provided high-quality nectar but poor pollen while California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), whitewhorl lupine (Lupinus densiflorus), and arroyo lupine (Lupinus succulentus) provided high-quality pollen but no nectar. The diet quality of Megachilid bee species, one of the taxa most affected by honeybee competition, was unaffected by competition in high-nutrition wildflower habitat.
The pollen and nectar quality of the study’s plant species (mountain garland [Clarkia unguiculata], Fort Miller clarkia [Clarkia williamsonii], purple Chinese houses, California poppy, whitewhorl lupine, arroyo lupine, baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii), rock phacelia [Phacelia californica], great valley phacelia [Phacelia ciliata], and lady phacelia [Phacelia tanacetifolia]) was published in the study. This was to help inform species selection for pollinator-friendly habitats and while this study was performed in the California Central Valley, the authors speculated that phylogenetically-related plants would have similar protein levels and substitutions could be locally adapted.
New England: Two for the Price of One
Will removing Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) and other invasive species reduce the number of black-legged (deer) ticks (Ixodes scapularis)? With tickborne diseases like Lyme disease and babseosis on the rise, a $1.8 million dollar National Science Foundation grant will help scientists to research whether the management of invasive plant species could impact tick populations.
Over the next 5 years, scientists in Maine and Vermont will survey tick populations and test different management techniques at 30 locations in New England. Based on their findings, landowners will be trained on best management practices for managing both invasive species and ticks.
Why tick populations have been anecdotally higher around invasive species like Japanese barberry is up for debate. Dr. Kristen Ross, a collaborator on the project, said “The humidity levels around Japanese barberry seems kind of ideal for ticks. They like it not too rainy and not too dry.” The thickets that barberry creates may also create an ideal habitat for white-footed mice, a host of blacklegged ticks. The monoculture that other invasive plant species create may also create an ideal habitat for black-legged ticks.
Removing invasive species will not eliminate ticks and this research hopes to answer how much management is needed to reduce tick populations and the risk of tickborne illness. Tick checks and bug spray will still be the most effective individual methods of control. However, study collaborators are hoping the research will spread awareness of a possible link between invasive plants and ticks and give people more motivation to remove invasive plants in order to control the ticks.
Managing Some Invasive Plants Might Reduce Blacklegged Ticks- Science Friday
Michigan: Planting Pollinator Rest Stops
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will use funds from a Pollinate Program grant to convert 14 acres of farmland to a tallgrass prairie at a rest area in Calhoun County. The grant for $5,100 comes from the University of Illinois Chicago and Stantec and will be used to purchase seed mix that will be sown in spring 2025.
This restored prairie will be at the Turkeyville Rest Area on southbound I-69 near Marshall. MDOT Ecological Resources Specialist, Kelsey Alvarado, said “The goal of this prairie restoration project is to create habitat for many pollinator species in an area beyond the operational right of way to serve as a safe refuge and connector to other suitable habitat in the landscape.”
While the native wildflowers will usually take 2 to 3 years to establish and bloom, similar plantings at MDOT rest areas have been successful and self-sustaining, requiring little mowing or herbicide treatments.
MDOT receives Pollinate Program Grant in Calhoun County- Michigan.gov
Native Plants as Antibiotics
Scientists with Lethbridge Polytechnic are researching the effectiveness of natural antibiotic properties in native plants that could be added to poultry feed. The project, funded by Egg Farmers of Canada and led by principal investigator Dr. Sophie Kernéis-Golsteyn, aims to find an alternative to antibiotics to protect chickens from Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC) bacteria. APEC leads to millions of chicken deaths annually, at a cost of $10-50 million.
This research focuses on two specific plants of the genera Rumex and Potentilla. If successful as natural antibiotics, these plants have the added benefit of being easy to cultivate as native plants require less water, increase soil health, and can be locally grown and readily available. Plant extracts will be tested on APEC samples to see if they affect bacterial growth. These extracts will also be tested on chicken cells. If the results are promising, extracts could then be tested on live chickens.
Preventative use of traditional antibiotics or to promote livestock growth has been prohibited in Canada since 2018 and can only be used by veterinarians on sick animals. This was due to increasing rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
North Carolina: Preserving the Lands and Waters South
Lands and Waters South (LWS) is a nonprofit organization promoting watershed protection and education in North Carolina. They accomplish this by installing native gardens, using sustainable landscaping practices, making spaces that reduce stormwater runoff, creating wildlife habitats, and providing opportunities for people to connect with nature. Many of these projects have been at schools.
“Some of our projects address stormwater issues a school is facing, while the goal of other projects is to create natural spaces for teachers to use as ‘living classrooms,’” O’Connor said. “We have also installed native gardens that offer a calming space for students having difficulty regulating their emotions, and native gardens that work in conjunction with vegetable gardens to draw in pollinators,” said Jeanette O’Connor, director of LWS.
Education is key to LWS’ mission to help ecosystem health and O’Connor hopes educating the public in their mission will help the public reestablish functioning ecosystems in the places they live, work and play.
Lands and Waters South works with the community to reinforce healthy ecosystems- The Daily Tar Heel
Maryland: 400 Native Plant Seedlings Find New Homes
Four hundred native plant seedlings were recently distributed to the community thanks to the local Master Gardeners group. The project was Master Gardener Intern Wendy Hubbert’s idea and was funded by a Plant Grant from Bona Terra Plant Nursery.
“It was super rewarding to see how people can accomplish a lot just by being aware of each other’s unique capabilities and shared goals. Giving people free plants makes educating them easier and more effective because they see how painless it can be to make small improvements in their own environments. I hope this will become a regular annual QA Master Gardener effort,” said Huebbert.
In a press release, the Master Gardener spokesperson said, “This day wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Queen Anne’s County Department of Parks and Recreation for providing us space to divide and repot plants and the countless Master Gardeners who showed up to help and took home plant babies to care for over the summer.”
Master Gardeners distribute 400 native plant seedlings- The Star Democrat
Minnesota: Beating Back Buckthorn
Buckthorn (Rhamnus spp.), brought to the United States from Europe in the mid-1800s as an ornamental privacy hedge, is now a notorious invasive species. Buckthorn grows fast, crowding and out competing with native plants for sunlight. It also provides an ideal habitat for invasive earthworms that uproot and kill native plants. Despite control measures such as herbicides and manual removal, buckthorn has almost always returned after a few years.
According to Mike Schuster, a researcher with the University of Minnesota’s Department of Forest Resources, buckthorn’s superpower in Minnesota’s forests — is that it keeps its leaves late into the fall which allows it to gather the light in the late fall for the resources for its survival in the winter and summer. And that’s also its weakness and the opportunity to beat it back.
Shuster and other researchers found that after cutting down the main stems of a buckthorn hedge, land managers can keep it from growing back by immediately spreading seeds of certain native plants that can fight back against young buckthorn and shade it out during that critical fall time. These species include grasses like Canada wildrye (Elymus canadensis), Virginia wildrye (Elymus virginicus), and silky wild rye (Elymus villosus) and work best in thinner forests where the canopy has at least some open sky. In denser woods, shade-tolerant wildflowers can help. These include white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), beebalm (Monarda spp.), red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), tall meadow rue (Thalictrum pubescens), Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum), brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba), and figwort (Scrophularia spp.). However, these seeds are more expensive and take longer to establish. When planted in the right densities, along with manually removing or treating buckthorn, native plants can be the best way to make sure buckthorn is eradicated.
Gina Bartleson is a member of the Wild Ones Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Area (IA) Chapter.