IN AN INCREASINGLY urbanized nation, the greenspaces scattered through urban and suburban areas — varying from river corridors and urban trails to golf courses and carefully manicured city parks — contribute to the vitality of our communities. In addition to supplying a welcome break from the hard surfaces of neighborhoods and business districts, these areas provide a wealth of opportunities for recreation and relaxation, aid community development, and help maintain a clean, healthy environment.
All urban greenspaces offer potential for pollinators, and all can become important links in a chain of wildlife habitat winding through developed land. At the most basic level, healthy greenspaces mean healthy people and healthy communities. And at the core of a healthy environment are the pollinators.
Parks were once formal landscapes designed for relaxation, but they now encompass everything from intensively managed sports fields to natural areas managed primarily for wildlife. Golf courses now range from manicured forms to those that integrate with the natural landscape. Although the specialized uses of playgrounds, sports fields, and golf courses may seem less hospitable to pollinator conservation efforts, habitat often can be created on marginal land interspersed among these other uses.
There is great overlap in the opportunities for pollinator conservation offered by urban parks and golf courses. Small patches of flowers and nest sites can be incorporated easily into existing landscapes. Parks and golf courses both have skilled professional staff. Both can provide habitat that supports pollinators, which in turn will help neighboring gardeners, farmers, and natural areas. And both can play a leadership role in their local communities.
In addition, golf courses also have out-of-play areas. These have great potential for pollinator conservation. Not only do they cover extensive areas of land — on many courses there are more acres of out-of-play than playing surfaces — but they frequently include natural areas or other habitat. Out-of-play areas offer the best possibility for interconnected patches of prairie flowers, shrubs, and surrounding trees. They also are generally undisturbed, and thus minimize many safety concerns such as retaining snags as valuable bee nest sites.
A SCRUFFY PATCH on the banks of a pond was considered an eyesore by many golfers, a place that needed revegetating to encourage wildlife. Unexpectedly, this site became a rich resource for wildlife when more than half a dozen species of ground-nesting bees moved in to exploit the bare soil.
The planning priorities for pollinator conservation in urban or suburban parks and golf courses are the same as for other areas. First, identify existing pollinator habitat and try to protect, enhance, and expand these existing sites. Next, work to develop new habitats in which pollinator communities can thrive, ideally locating these so they provide links between natural sites. For example, try to have patches of habitat separated by no more than 500 feet (152 m), the maximum flight distance of our smallest bees. In addition, flower beds in more formal areas can be planted with showy native flowers and carefully chosen nectar- or pollen-rich ornamental varieties. When habitat has been recognized, protected, and enhanced, it should be managed in a way that maintains the habitat while minimizing the impact on pollinators.
For recreation sites with public access, add a fifth step: Tell people what you are doing and why. Informing golfers, park visitors, staff, citizen committees, neighbors, and others about how and why the course or park is changing should be an integral part of any conservation efforts. Golfers may be surprised to find grass left to grow long or even patches of “weeds” appearing where they are used to seeing uniform turf. Dog walkers in a park may be concerned when asked to prevent their pets from roaming into new habitat patches. Gaining their support or approval early in the process may be wise.
The extensive out-of-play areas of golf courses provide excellent potential as pollinator habitat.
IDEALLY, conservation planning follows these steps:
Although almost any site can be managed for pollinators, the most suitable ones will be sunny, sheltered areas with flowers, older trees, and some bare ground. These might include grassy areas on the southern edge of woodlands, hedgerows, and south-facing earthen banks. Aim to develop a chain of habitat. A collection of isolated islandlike patches will help pollinators, but corridors of improved habitat greatly increase the benefits.
The types of areas in a park that may be suited to pollinator habitat include areas that currently support flowering plants, snags, or bare ground. Marginal areas such as awkward-to-mow corners, fencerows, trail margins, and the banks of creeks or ditches are all potential out-of-the-way sites. Ecolawns, ecoroofs, community gardens, and flower gardens or formal landscaping are other habitat ideas to consider.
Identifying the key plant species that support pollinators can help in making plant choices for restored park areas. For example, in San Francisco, wild lilac (Ceanothus thrysiflorus) was identified as a key resource for Bombus melanopygus, one of the rare bumble bees in the urban environment. Recent restoration projects by the city’s Natural Areas Program have incorporated C. thrysiflorus into their designs.
In areas with public access, or simply neighborhood oversight, the use of pesticides can be an emotional subject. The public worries — rightly so — about pesticides getting into water or contaminating our neighborhoods. The impact of insecticides on pollinators can be lethal or nonlethal, fast-acting or delayed, limited to insects in the area sprayed or — as with bees — transferred to insects in the nest. Herbicides can remove potential pollinator forage.
Where possible, reduce the need for insecticides by using integrated pest management to establish acceptable levels of pests and then only spray when absolutely necessary. (See Alternatives to Pesticides.) Diverse pollinator habitat will also encourage populations of beneficial predators (including birds) and parasitoids that will help control pests.
If you do use pesticides, carefully follow label guidelines and take steps to minimize impact on pollinators, such as:
Mowing is another management activity that can harm pollinators. One simple way to increase habitat is to alter how, when, or where mowing is done. By reducing the frequency of mowing, weedy flowers such as dandelions and clover will be able to bloom periodically. By raising the height of the mower, these and other low-growing flowers have a better chance of reaching blooming height. Reconsider whether some areas can be left unmown, such as field corners or cart-path margins. For wilder areas managed as pollinator or wildlife habitat, set up a staggered mowing schedule, cutting only a third of the pollinator areas or out-of-play areas each year. Fire is an alternative to mowing that may be appropriate for some sites.
Care for the environment has been at the core of the park managers’ and golf course superintendents’ professions for many years. Increasingly, local communities, park users, and golfers are looking to managers and superintendents to take a lead in wildlife conservation and environmental stewardship. Maintaining pollinator populations is one of the most valuable ways in which these areas can contribute to a healthy environment.
