Public Parkland Management for Pollinators

Elinor Meloy

MRes BSc

Masters in Research Project

A comparison of the utility of

cultivated pollinator planting

initiatives and traditionally

managed grasslands within

major urban parkland of South

Wales

Main Methods include: Reduced mowing Habitat management ‘Wildflower’ seed planting

They’re being introduced all over South Wales but…Do they work?

Urban pollinator initiatives

Aim To determine if the pollinator habitat management regimes of reduced mowing and seeding areas of urban parkland support different species richness and abundance of insect pollinators. Project duration 1st June- 1st September 2015 12 weeks , throughout British Summer Methods Vegetation quadrats, Checklist Surveys, Pan Traps

Project Summary

Results • A total of 82 species of flowering plants

were recorded: 55 at unmown sites vs 39 at seeded sites

• A total of 72 species of pollinators were recorded across the 14 sites in the three orders Diptera (33), Hymenoptera (21), and Lepidoptera (18) 65 across unmown sites vs 52 at seeded sites

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5

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55

Unmown

Cardiff

Unmown

Swansea

Seed Mix 2

Cardiff

Seed Mix 1

Swansea

Seed Mix 1

Cardiff

Seed Mix 1

Swansea

Tota

l N

um

ber

of

spec

ies

Location & Management type

Lepidoptera

Hymenoptera

Diptera

The overall results suggest that reduced mowing management is a more effective planting initiative for pollinator conservation than sowing cultivated seed mixes particularly for diurnal lepidoptera

Outcomes • Both seeded and reduced mowing

areas acted as valuable forage resources

• Variation in insect pollinator response suggest that both methods provide an exploited forage resource and must continue

• Suggestions were sent to Cardiff and Swansea Council of an integrated initiative of both methods

• Benefiting not only pollinators but other urban biodiversity, reducing fragmentation and linking urban greenspace.