Floral Enhancement of Turfgrass Lawns for the Benefit of Bee Pollinators in Minneapolis, Minnesota
2020-01
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Floral Enhancement of Turfgrass Lawns for the Benefit of Bee Pollinators in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Authors
Published Date
2020-01
Publisher
Type
Thesis or Dissertation
Abstract
The turfgrass lawn is a common feature of urban and suburban communities, often accounting for the largest green spaces by area in these landscapes. Flowering species within turfgrass lawns have the potential to serve as a source of forage for bee pollinators in urban and suburban areas. We intentionally introduced low-growing flowers to turfgrass lawns to promote bee diversity and reduce inputs, while maintaining the traditional aesthetics and recreational uses associated with lawns. We compared bee communities on lawns with naturally-occurring blooms of Trifolium repens to bee communities on florally enhanced lawns that contained Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata and Thymus serpyllum in addition to T. repens. T. repens supported both wild bee communities and A. mellifera colonies, as 56 species of bees were observed on T. repens, with A. mellifera as the most common species observed. We found that florally enhanced lawns supported more diverse bee communities than lawns with just T. repens. Furthermore, the bee communities supported by florally enhanced lawns were significantly different from the bee communities supported by lawns containing just T. repens based on presence-absence (Jaccard’s dissimilarity index). Our research indicates that A. mellifera colonies and wild bee communities can be supported by allowing T. repens to bloom in turfgrass lawns, and that further steps to promote the conservation of bees can be taken by land managers by intentionally introducing low-growing flowers to lawns.
Keywords
Description
University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. January 2020. Major: Entomology. Advisors: Marla Spivak, Eric Watkins. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 84 pages.
Related to
Replaces
License
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Suggested citation
Wolfin, James. (2020). Floral Enhancement of Turfgrass Lawns for the Benefit of Bee Pollinators in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/213062.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.