Exploring Floridians' perceptions of pollinator-friendly gardening to identify critical adoption barriers and strategies

Abstract

Developed landscapes in urban and peri-urban environments significantly influence the diversity, abundance, and overall health of pollinator populations such as bees, butterflies, moths, and birds. Considering growing evidence demonstrating that pollinator health can be more robust in urban habitats than rural ones, the landscape development and management practices adopted in urban and suburban areas have a significant potential impact on pollinator health. Given their influence with respect to urban and suburban landscape management in Florida, it is critical to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Florida residents regarding pollinator-friendly gardening practices such as the flowering plant installation or reduced pesticide application. To explore the most salient factors influencing residents’ adoption of pollinator gardening practices, we facilitated three elicitation focus groups with 20 residents representing three distinct regions in Florida. Data analysis generated a series of salient sub-themes across two thematic categories: ‘barriers’ and ‘solutions and strategies’. Major ‘barrier’ themes included ‘limited knowledge or information access’ about pollinator gardening, and ‘social norms/community expectations’. Major solution and strategy’ themes included ‘developing neighborhood/homeowner association buy-in,’ and ‘pre-installation research and planning’. Overall, findings demonstrate that Florida residents have strong views regarding both the most influential barriers to adopting or engaging in pollinator-friendly gardening and the most promising solutions or strategies to mitigate those barriers. These findings have tangible implications for educational practitioners interested in expanding distribution of targeted educational outreach to further promote the adoption of pollinator-friendly landscape management practices in Florida. Findings also have implications for researchers interested in further examining the socio-economic and socio-cultural factors most influential to residents’ pollinator gardening practices.