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"
Spring Beauty and the Bees
is a project that aims to document changing pollinator populations
through the efforts of volunteer citizen scientists. By monitoring the
insects that visit
Claytonia virginica
and/or
Claytonia caroliniana
(also known as Spring Beauty) throughout the east coast, we can
determine how pollinator communities change depending on the year, the
location, and the season. To help, you need only to be able to find a
patch of either of our study plants,
Claytonia virginica
and
Claytonia caroliniana
, which are easily found throughout the Eastern US and southeastern
Ontario. We’ll help you learn to distinguish the plants and
pollinators, and assist you with questions along the way
."
If you would like to participate in this project
, just fill out the form on the Spring Beauty and the Bees Web site or send email to spring.beauty.pollinators (at) gmail.com
Recommended Reading
Cover of the Pollinator Conservation Handbook (Xerces Society).
Did you Join the Conversation about Native Bees during National Pollinator Week (June 20-26)?
The declaration of
Pollinator Week
was brought about largely through the efforts of the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC). Explore this page to find lots of ideas and opportunities for you to join in the celebration of Pollinator Week.
The Senate passed Resolution 580 "Recognizing the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health and agriculture in the United States and the value of partnership efforts to increase awareness about pollinators and support for protecting and sustaining pollinators by designating June 24 though June 30, 2007 as 'National Pollinator Week'." Read Resolution 580.
Pollinator Week occured June 20 through June 26, 2011. To learn more about this year's events, click here or read more about the events of Pollinator Weeks held in past years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.
Create pollinator habitats in your yard, community, local schools, and other lands nearby. Plant native plants that provide nectar or larval food for pollinators. Install bat houses and/or nest boxes for bees.
Get involved with pollinator-friendly organizations.
Enjoy nature.
Support pollinator-friendly legislation.
Recommended Reading
Cover of Conserving Migratory Pollinators and Nectar Corridors in Western North America (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Studies in Natural History) by Gary Paul Nabhan (Editor) (2004). (University of Arizona Press)
Life on the Purple Loosestrife: A Citizen Science Project
Life on the Purple Loosestrife is a citizen science project created by Jennifer Forman Orth at the University of Massachusetts Boston that collects photographs of organisms on purple loosestrife. The project, begun in July 2005, hopes to address the following questions: "What evidence is there that organisms are interacting with purple loosestrife?; How dependent are these organisms on purple loosestrife?; and What role do these organisms play in the spread of purple loosestrife?"
From the project's inception in 2005 to April 15, 2007 the project has collected 195 photographs from 22 photographers and has identified organisms from four classes, 14 orders, 49 families, 52 genera, and at least 93 different species. Photographers are asked to post photographs of any living thing that is found on purple loosestrife to a public group on the Flickr web site - rules for posting are found on the project site.
