Natives and Native Cultivars: Understanding Pollinator Preference for Native Plants and Their Cultivated Counterparts in the Pacific Northwest
Start Date
4-4-2023 4:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2023 6:00 PM
Abstract
Native cultivars present a paradox for ecologically-minded gardeners: growing interest in native plants is largely related to their benefits to pollinators, yet many native plants found at nurseries may be significantly altered, compared to wild genotypes. The goals of our research are to identify potential differences in bee preference for wild type natives or cultivars, and to understand what floral traits plant breeding impacts. In this presentation, we focus on native bee visitation to 7 species of Oregon native plants and one to three associated cultivars, documented over three field seasons (2020-2022). Each season we conducted 5-minute pollinator counts before, during, and after peak bloom (25-100% bloom coverage). We hypothesize native bee preference (based on pollinator counts) for native status (natives or cultivars) will vary by plant species group, and altered plant traits (via selections and/or breeding) may be associated with changes in bee visitation. Our preliminary analyses revealed no clear preference for natives or cultivars across all study plant groups, but native status was found to be a significant predictor of the variance in foraging native bee abundance for three plant groups. Here, we will report our results based on three years of pollinator surveys and provide recommendations on selecting plants for pollinator gardens.
Subjects
Animal ecology, Conservation biology, Plant ecology
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40482
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Natives and Native Cultivars: Understanding Pollinator Preference for Native Plants and Their Cultivated Counterparts in the Pacific Northwest
Native cultivars present a paradox for ecologically-minded gardeners: growing interest in native plants is largely related to their benefits to pollinators, yet many native plants found at nurseries may be significantly altered, compared to wild genotypes. The goals of our research are to identify potential differences in bee preference for wild type natives or cultivars, and to understand what floral traits plant breeding impacts. In this presentation, we focus on native bee visitation to 7 species of Oregon native plants and one to three associated cultivars, documented over three field seasons (2020-2022). Each season we conducted 5-minute pollinator counts before, during, and after peak bloom (25-100% bloom coverage). We hypothesize native bee preference (based on pollinator counts) for native status (natives or cultivars) will vary by plant species group, and altered plant traits (via selections and/or breeding) may be associated with changes in bee visitation. Our preliminary analyses revealed no clear preference for natives or cultivars across all study plant groups, but native status was found to be a significant predictor of the variance in foraging native bee abundance for three plant groups. Here, we will report our results based on three years of pollinator surveys and provide recommendations on selecting plants for pollinator gardens.