Professional Practice

Applying Ecological Design: Supporting Pollinators

Perennial garden by Thomas Rainer, Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ / Pollinator Paradise Project

Plants play a crucial role in creating wildlife habitat for a range of birds, insects, and herbivores. Honey bees are an essential pollinator and have faced precipitous decline due in part to . Bats, another important pollinator, have also faced critical population declines in recent years due to the disease . Pollinators are at further risk with the continued use of pesticides and other chemicals, as well as habitat loss.

Bees, bats, and a number of other animals, including birds, beetles, and butterflies, play an important role in keeping ecosystems functioning, and provide vital services such as pollination. According to the , these cross-pollinating animals help support 30 percent of the world¡¯s crops and enable 90 percent of wild plants to thrive.  

There are several simple and cost-effective ways to support pollinator population growth. Homeowners can grow plants that attract pollinators through their nectar and pollen. Homeowners can stop using pesticides and herbicides. Homeowners can also support habitats through urban and residential beekeeping systems and by building bat houses.

Organizations







Resources

, Pollinator Partnership

, Bee City USA



, The Dirt, American Society of Landscape Architects

, The Dirt, American Society of Landscape Architects
    
, The Dirt, American Society of Landscape Architects

, The Dirt, American Society of Landscape Architects

, Sunset

, Berkeley Food Institute

, North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

, North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

, North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

, The Dirt, American Society of Landscape Architects

, The Field, American Society of Landscape Architects

Research

¡°,¡± Kate Frey, Gretchen LeBuhn, Leslie Lindell, Ten Speed Press, 2016

"," Eric Grissell and Carl Goodpasture. Timber Press, 2006

"," Matthew Shephard, Stephen L. Buchmann, Mace Vaughan, and Scott Hoffman Black. Xerxes Society, 2003

¡°,¡± Diana Sammataro, Alphonse Avitabile, Dewey M. Caron, Comstock Publishing Associates, 2011

¡°,¡± Joseph S. Wilson, Olivia J. Messinger Carril, Princeton University Press, 2015

¡°,¡± Julie Zickefoose, Skyhorse Publishing, 2016

Government Resources

, National Biological Information Infrastructure, U.S. Geological Survey

, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services

, Pollinator Health Task Force, The White House

, Fairfax County Park Authority

Projects

Kronish House, Beverly Hills, California
Marmol Radziner

Private Residence/Landscape Restoration, Rowena, Oregon
Koch Landscape Architecture  

The Restoring of a Montane Landscape, Rocky Mountains, Colorado
Design Workshop, Inc.