What is the Xerces Society? Pollinator Habitat Restoration from
Transcript of What is the Xerces Society? Pollinator Habitat Restoration from
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Pollinator Habitat Restoration from Coast
to Coast: Lessons from the Field
Mace Vaughan Pollinator Conservation Program Director, Xerces Society
Joint Pollinator Conservation Specialist, USDA-NRCS
West National Technology Support Center Photo: Rollin Coville
What is the Xerces Society?
Photo:s California NRCS and Ed Ross
Since 1971, the Society has worked to protect wildlife
through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.
Major Programs:
• Pollinator conservation
• Endangered species
• Aquatic invertebrates
Xerces blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces), the first U.S. butterfly
to go extinct due to human activities
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Photo: Eric Mader
The Xerces Society Pollinator Program
The Xerces Society:
A Nationwide Pollinator
Training and Education Service
Collaborate with scientists, government
agencies, farmers, conservation groups,
cooperative extension, and homeowners.
• Training and outreach
• Publications: books, guidelines, etc.
• Habitat restoration
• Pesticide risk reduction
• Technical support to the USDA-NRCS
• Applied restoration research
• One-on-one technical support to farmers
• Information for policymakers and media
• Conservation of at-risk pollinators
2008 Farm Bill: Pollinator Conservation
2008 Farm Bill
• Encourages the inclusion
of pollinators in all USDA
conservation programs
• Primary agency: USDA
Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Photo: Mace Vaughan (Xerces Society)
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USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG):
Develop and Test Pollinator Habitat Restoration for Six
Regions of the U.S. (October 2009 to September 2012)
Photo: Don Kierstead (NH NRCSy)
NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants
Photo: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
Project goals:
• Create demonstration sites
• Field test restoration plans
• Refine pollinator plant lists
• Write clear guidelines for NRCS
conservation planners and farmers
• Disseminate results to conservation
planners and partners
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
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Targeted Regions
Photo: Brett Blauw, Michigan State University Lautenbach et al 2012. Spatial and temporal trends of global pollination benefit. PLoS ONE.
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
Demonstration sites:
• Established more than 20 demonstration sites on farms across the U.S.
Photos: Mission RCD, Eric Mader (Xerces), Bob Glennon, Don Kiersted (NH NRCS)
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
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Plant lists:
• Developed, field-tested, and revised pollinator plant lists for six regions
Photo: CA NRCS
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
Photo: Jessa Guisse
The Finished Product!
Plant lists:
• California example
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
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Photo: Jessa Guisse
Plant lists:
• California example
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
Photo: Jessa Guisse
The Finished Product!
Plant lists:
• California example
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
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Photo: Jessa Guisse
The Finished Product!
Plant lists:
• California example
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
Tracking how well practices work:
• Monitored and documented variations in seeding
method, seeding rate, planting time, and plant growth
rate to identify key factors affecting project success
Key lessons to date:
• Do not cultivate
• No soil amendments for seeded plots
• Thorough site preparation and weed abatement
• Follow up weed management first year post-planting
• Recommend 40 to 60 seeds per square foot
• Patience
Photos: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
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May 2010
Photos: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
Case Study: California Rangeland Planting
California Cattle Ranch
April 2010
Photos: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
June 2010
Case Study: California Rangeland Planting
California Cattle Ranch
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Photos: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
August 2010
Case Study: California Rangeland Planting
California Cattle Ranch
Photos: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
August 2010
Case Study: California Rangeland Planting
California Cattle Ranch
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Photos: Claudia Street (Glenn County RCD)
April 2011
Case Study: California Rangeland Planting
California Cattle Ranch Oregon Cherry Orchard
(Columbia Gorge)
Photos :Mike Omeg, Mace Vaughan (Xerces Society)
Case Study: Native Plant Field Border
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New Hampshire Blueberry Farm
Case Study: Native Plant Field Border
Photos: Don Keirstead
Pre-Planting: 2009 Post-Planting: 2011
New Hampshire Blueberry Farm
Case Study: Native Plant Field Border
Photos: Don Keirstead
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Photos: Plymouth County NRCS
Case Study: Native Plant Field Border
Massachusetts Cranberry Farm
Post-Planting:
Summer 2011
Hydroseeding
Native
Wildflowers:
Fall 2010
Photo: Anne Averill, University of Massachusetts
Case Study: Native Plant Field Border
Massachusetts Cranberry Farm
Post-Planting:
Summer 2012
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Technical and training documents:
• Draft pollinator habitat meadow and/or hedgerow installation
guidelines for six regions of the U.S.
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
Refining and teaching:
• Finalizing habitat installation guides in
collaboration with NRCS state offices
• Presenting project results to the NRCS
and conservation partners via
webinars and other outreach events
Photos: Jim Cairns (CA NRCS)
NRCS CIG: Pollinator Habitat Restoration
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New Conservation Innovation Grant:
• Continue monitoring key sites to document changes in plant
communities over time and refine management strategies
• Field trials focusing on organic site preparation and weed
abatement techniques.
Photo: Jessa Guisse (Xerces Society)
Pollinator Habitat Restoration: Next steps Pollinator Habitat Restoration: Next steps
Expanding project support:
• Port of Portland 50-acre restoration and monitoring
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Further Information: Resource Center
Pollinator Conservation
Resource Center
Region-specific Information from
Xerces, Cooperative Extension,
USDA-NRCS, NGO, and other
sources, including:
• Regional plant Lists
• National plant lists
• Conservation Guides
• Nest construction guides
• Links to identification guides
• Pesticide Guidelines
• Native Plant Nursery Directory
• Pollinator Plant Seed Store
www.xerces.org/pollinator-
resource-center
Published in February 2011
“Attracting Native Pollinators belongs
on the bookshelf of everyone who
values the future of the natural world.”
- Douglas W. Tallamy, researcher and author of
Bringing Nature Home
“Precise, elegant and thoughtful, the
recommendations offered by the
Xerces Society will become essential
to advancing a healthy and diverse
food production system.”
- Gary Nabhan, author of The Forgotten Pollinators
and Renewing America’s Food Traditions
Further Information: Xerces Publications
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Thanks to our partners
Photo:s Mace Vaughan (Xerces Society)
FARMERS!
Thank you
Photo: Rollin Coville
Partners in conservation: farmers,
conservationists, scientists, and
the USDA NRCS
Financial support from USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service (Conservation Innovation Grants)
Turner Foundation
CS Fund
Whole Foods Markets
Organic Valley
Organic Farm Research Foundation
The Ceres Foundation
Sarah K. de Coizart Article TENTH Perpetual
Charitable Trust.
Dudley Foundation
Bullitt Foundation
Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation
Panta Rhea Foundation
Gaia Fund
Bill Healy Foundation
Bradshaw-Knight Foundation
Xerces Society Members