Abstract
Gardens have become increasingly important places for growing nutritional food, for conserving biodiversity, for biological and ecological research and education, and for community gathering. Gardens can also be designed with the goal of attracting specific wildlife, like birds and butterflies, but pollinators, like bees, can also be drawn to specially planned and modified gardens. A community garden in San Luis Obispo, California provided the setting for modification with the goal of attracting native bee pollinators by planting known bee-attractive plants. The local gardeners participated in a survey questionnaire and focused interviews to provide their input and interest in such a project. Presentations on our work with native bees in urban environments and gardening to attract bees were also given to interested gardeners. Work of this type also benefited from a lead gardener who managed donated bee plants and kept up momentum of the project. Modification of the garden and monitoring of native bees started in 2007 and continued through the growing season of 2009. Diversity of collected and observed native bees has increased each year since 2007. To date, 40 species in 17 genera of mostly native bees has been recorded from the garden, and this number is expected to increase through time.
Highlights
In recent years the popularity of gardening has increased
The Emerson Park Community Garden is located in San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Co., California, which is almost halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles
In July of 2009 the gardeners met and developed a mission statement that reflected their participation in our project. Their mission statement is as follows: “The Emerson Community Organic Gardeners in collaboration with Dr Gordon Frankie at the University of California, Berkeley are participating in a native bee study by establishing native bee attractive plants and habitat to conserve and increase native bees and other pollinators.”
Summary
In recent years the popularity of gardening has increased. More people are growing their own food as a means of increasing personal access to more affordable, better-tasting, and healthier produce (Marsh 1998; Ferris et al 2001; Lawson 2005; NGA 2009; MacVean 2009). School gardens are becoming more commonplace, and states like California have developed programs to encourage them (Lawson 2005) These become places where children can learn about where their food comes from, how it comes to be there by learning about ecology and pollination, and learning about general nutrition (Flores 2006). Gardens become venues for environmental education of local residents, places for biological and ecological research, and can improve neighborhoods by bringing people together and providing a sense of community (Martin and Mardsen 1999; Armstrong 2000; Lawson 2005; Matteson et al 2008)
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