Talk: Creating Pollinator Habitat

time This event happened in the past.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
7:00pm - 9:00pm
DNRT Center at Helfand Farm
DNRT Center at Helfand Farm
318 Chase Rd.
Dartmouth, MA 02747

Please join Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust and Dr. Robert J. Gegear at Helfand Farm for a discussion on what you can do to help protect and restore our native pollination systems, and the biodiversity that they support, in your own backyard.

Pollinators are declining in abundance, diversity, and geographic distribution at an unprecedented rate worldwide due to human activity. These declines pose a threat to global food security due to the important role that pollinators play in crop production. Consequently, pollinator conservation efforts have mostly focused on increasing abundance of crop pollinators in agricultural areas. However, pollinators also play a critical role in maintaining the function and diversity of natural ecosystems through their unique relationship with native flowering plant species – the products of native plant pollination, for example, provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for birds and other wildlife. The continued degradation of native pollination systems therefore poses a significant threat to life on our planet, a fact often ignored in agriculturally-focused pollinator conservation strategies.

Dr. Robert J. Gegear is a Professor in the Department of Biology at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Gegear’s research focuses on the neuroecology and conservation of plant-pollinator interactions, with particular focus on bumblebees pollination systems. He is also the Director of the Beecology Project, a citizen science effort to rapidly collect ecological data on pollination systems in New England in order to increase the effectiveness of conservation strategies for threatened species. For his community outreach activities related to the Beecology Project, Dr. Gegear was awarded the 2018 Regional Impact Award by the Native Plant Trust (formerly New England Wildflower Society).

Pre-registration required. Please sign up online.

Cost: Free

Register Online
For more information:
Phone: (508) 991-2289
Category: Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust
Hosted By: Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust
Free EventMeetings & Workshops
butterfly on a flower at Tripps Mill in Mattapoisett

Upcoming Events

Buzzards Bay Swim – Registration Now Open!
Sat, June 22
6:30AM - 10:30AM
Fort Phoenix State Reservation,
Fairhaven
Falmouth Road Race
Sun, August 18
Woods Hole to Falmouth Heights,
Falmouth
Buzzards Bay Watershed Ride
Sun, October 06
Sakonnnet Point to Woods Hole,
Falmouth