Investigate Pollinators & Their HabitatYour pollinator garden is home to native plants and flowers that provide nectar and pollen for native pollinator species including bees and butterflies.
Your pollinator garden is home to native plants and flowers that provide nectar and pollen for native pollinator species including bees and butterflies.
Bumble Bee on Purple Coneflower
Dreamstime
Pollinators are animals that help carry pollen (yellow, powdery substance from male part of flower) from flower to flower.
Sometimes pollen is carried by wind or water, but often it is carried by animals.
Some animals visit flowers in search of food. Some extract nectar (sugary fluid produced by plants) from flowers using their tongue or proboscis (long, sucking mouthpart of insect).
They may also visit the flower to find shelter, nest-building materials, or mates.
Black Swallowtail
Wikimedia – Derek Ramsey
The animals get the resources they need from the plant and the plant gets help with pollination (the transfer of pollen from plant to plant) and seed dispersal (the movement of seeds away from the parent plant).
Common pollinators in Alabama include a number of species of ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, and wasps. Some bat species in other parts of the country and world are pollinators, but all 16 of Alabama’s bat species are insectivorous (feed only on insects).
Bee with Pollen
Dreamstime
Click on the names of the animals below to read more about the species you will commonly find around your pollinator garden.
Butterflies – like the Monarch or Black Swallowtail
Bees – like the Eastern bumble bee
Ants – like Little black ants
Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther part of a plant’s flower to the female stigma part of the plant’s flower so that the flower can become a seed and the plant can create offspring for the next generation.
Pollination occurs when pollen leaves the anther (part of the stamen) and lands on the stigma (part of the pistil).
Self-pollination occurs when the anther and stigma are on the same flower or plant.
Cross-pollination occurs when the pollen comes from a different plant’s anther.
This transfer of pollen is required for plants to produce fruits, seeds, and more plants.
Parts of a Flower
Wikimedia – Anjubaba
Pollination occurs when pollen leaves the anther (part of the stamen) and lands on the stigma (part of the pistil).
Self-pollination occurs when the anther and stigma are on the same flower or plant.
Cross-pollination occurs when the pollen comes from a different plant’s anther.
This transfer of pollen is required for plants to produce fruits, seeds, and more plants.
Pollination Cycle
Freepik.com
Nectar Guides (on bottom photo)
Wikimedia – Dave Kennard
Click here to view a presentation about pollinator vision and how they perceive color
Different types of pollinators tend to prefer different types of flowers based on the characteristics or traits of the flowers. The relationship between pollinator characteristics and which flower types they prefer and are successful in pollinating is called a pollination syndrome. Flower traits include flower shape, flower color, flower smell, amount of pollen, amount of nectar, and the presence or absence of nectar guides. Nectar guides are markings on flowers that guide pollinators to where the nectar is located. Many pollinators can see light wavelengths that humans cannot, making these markings invisible to us.
Click here to view a “Pollinator Syndrome Comparison Chart” with a description of the flower characteristics preferred for each type of pollinator
Click on the flowers to see the plant species commonly found in habitat learning lab pollinator gardens!Many pollinators get their water needs met by drinking nectar and visiting shallow puddles. Your garden may have a saucer or other shallow dish filled with water and small rocks – this allows pollinators to safely sip water without drowning.
Vegetation, leaf litter, and dead plants will provide shelter from inclement weather as well as predators.
Many species of pollinators will lay their eggs on the plants or in the soil in your garden.
The most important part of a pollinator garden is native (occur naturally and historically in a specific area) plants. They are better adapted for our specific climate and soil than non-native (do not occur naturally and historically in a specific area; have been introduced) plant species.Native pollinators have co-evolved (influence each other in the process of development or evolution) with these native plants to most efficiently collect pollen and nectar, making their success more likely than if they were to pollinate non-native species.
These plants are an important base in the food chain, as they draw in native pollinator species which are in turn food for native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
For these reasons, native plants increase the biodiversity (the variety of life found in a place) of your outdoor classroom.
Pollinators are extremely important because they enable plants to provide food and cover for wildlife, prevent erosion, and keep air and waterways clean. They are also vital for many of the foods we eat. This is why it is so important that we create habitat for pollinators because many populations of pollinators, including bees, flies, butterflies, and beetles, are in decline.
#1: It is estimated that animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of flowering plants and one-third of human food crops. This means that you can thank a pollinator for every one out of every three bites of food you take!
#2: Pollinators play a significant role in the production of over 150 food crops in the U.S.—among them apples, almonds, blueberries, cranberries, kiwis, melons, pears, plums, and squash.
#3: In the U.S., pollination produces nearly $20 billion worth of products annually.
#4: There are roughly 200,000 animal species around the world that perform as pollinators. Less than 1% of these are vertebrates (birds, bats, and other small mammals). The rest are invertebrates, including flies, beetles, butterflies, moths, wasps, and bees.
#5: One native leaf cutter bee can do the pollination job of 20 non-native bees.
Leaf Cutter Bee
Wikimedia – Bernhard Plank
