P2 Research Director is Guest Editor for Special Issue on Pollinators

Pollinator Partnership’s Research Director, Dr. Vicki Wojcik, joined the Natural Areas Journal Editorial team as the Guest Editor for the newly released Special Issue on Pollinators. From cover to cover this publication takes a deeper look at the current science in managing and protecting pollinators in natural systems.

This special issue marks the first time that the Natural Areas Journal has focused specifically on pollinators and their plants. Have a read and see how protected areas can be designed to support critical pollinator populations; how restoration practices using local native seed improve success; and how climate change impacts plant-pollinator systems.

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In addition to serving as the Guest Editor for the Special Issue on Pollinators, Dr. Wojcik collaborated with P2’s Plant Ecologist, Mary Galea, and Padre Associates, Inc.’s Christopher Dunn on a featured article titled Using pollinator seed mixes in landscape restoration boosts bee visitation and reproduction in the rare local endemic Santa Susana Tarweed, Deinandra minthornii. This article was the result of a four-year study of pollinator community dynamics and services conducted at Boeing’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Southern California from 2011 to 2014. Pollinator Partnership provided recommendations for a pollinator-specific seed mix and then examined the reproductive ecology of D. minthornii near to and farther from restoration activities. Populations located closer to pollinator-specific restoration seedings were visited by more bees and more bee types, and showed a 30% higher seed viability when compared to populations located in unrestored areas.

We encourage the use of regionally appropriate forb seed mixes in remediation scenarios to enhance pollination services. Incorporating pollinator-attractive plants in restoration activities can help support pollinator populations, as well as promote rare and important local plant species.