The Monarch Regional Advisory Committee meets bi-annually to discuss topics and projects pertaining to conserving pollinator populations. At our November meeting, we learned about how agricultural and working lands can serve as a native habitat haven that both strengthens pollinator populations and overall health.
Emily Nye and Cristina Czochanski from VCRCD, along with Sarah Cusser from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG), presented their work on the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Pollinator Habitat Program. Contracted by Cachuma RCD, Community Environmental Council (CEC), VCRCD, and SBBG are working with farmers across Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties to join this program and implement different types of pollinator habitat on their farms and ranches. This program addresses the urgent need for pollinator habitat establishment across agricultural lands in California by promoting biodiversity, strengthening pollinator populations, supporting integrated pest management, and improving agricultural productivity. The 22 agricultural operations participating in the program are monitoring their newly established habitat for pollinator abundance and diversity and using Integrated Pest Management principles to sustainably manage pests while protecting pollinators. To learn more about this program, visit our webpage here.
Additionally, Carson Loudermelt— a graduate student at Cal Poly Pomona— presented her research on how on-farm and broader landscape vegetation impacts bee communities. Carson and her team sampled bees at lemon and avocado orchards throughout the Santa Clara River Valley that have various amounts and compositions of vegetation nearby and in the surrounding landscape. They identified approximately 6,500 bees belonging to around 85 different species, with results indicating that floral resources and local landscape diversity are the best predictors of bee species richness. That is, as floral resources and landscape diversity increase, there is a significant increase in the number of bee species at a site, as well as an increase in the range of characteristics a bee community has.
From these two talks we know increased floral resources improve bee populations and most farmers cannot plant non-cash crop, beneficial habitat, without financial assistance. How do we continue to maintain and fund pollinator plantings if grant funding is inconsistent? The VCRCD hopes to continue this discussion and be a part of this vital work.
