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Habitat Development for Pollinator Insects

Ecological Sciences - Biology Technical Note Number MT-20 (Revision 3)

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Biology Technical Note Number MT-20 (Revision 3, PDF; 47 KB)

March 2008
Peter O. Husby, Biologist

Two-thirds of the world’s crop species depend on insects for pollination, which accounts for 15 to 30 percent of the food and beverages we consume. Pollinators (insects, some birds and bats) are key to the function of many terrestrial eco-systems because they enhance native plant reproduction. Native plants provide food and cover for numerous wildlife species, help stabilize the soil and improve water quality. As a group, pollinators are threatened worldwide by habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, disease, and parasites. This has serious economic implications for humans and for native eco-system diversity and stability.

The NRCS can assist landowners with habitat enhancement for pollinators by encouraging them to establish an array of plants that flower throughout the entire growing season to provide a source of nectar for adult pollinators and a diversity of herbaceous material for immature pollinator life stages.

Herbaceous plantings should include one grass adapted to the site and at least one different forb or shrub from each of the three flowering categories, that is, early, mid, and late which are listed below. Species Mixture Tables show alternative species example mixtures emphasizing pollinator-friendly plants.

Native Plants
Early Flowering Group Lewis flax Yarrow American plum Black hawthorn Chokecherry Golden current Red-osier dogwood Serviceberry Skunkbush sumac Willow Shrubby cinquefoil Wood's rose	Mid Flowering Group Indian blanket flower Maximilian sunflower Prairie coneflower Purple prairieclover Rocky Mountain penstemon White prairieclover Common snowberry Western snowberry Yarrow Wood's rose Shrubby cinquefoil Red-osier dogwood	Late Flowering Group Indian blanket flower Maximilian sunflower Prairie coneflower Purple prairieclover White prairieclover Dotted gayfeather Globe mallow Yarrow Big sagebrush Cudweed sagewort Green sagewort Shrubby cinquefoil Rubber rabbitbrush Green rabbitbrush

Introduced Plants
Early Flowering Group Alsike clover Strawberry clover White sweetclover Yellow sweetclover Sanfoin Caragana Nanking cherry Sand cherry Lilac Crabapple	Mid Flowering Group Alfalfa White clover (ladino) Small burnet Yellow sweetclover Sanfoin	Late Flowering Group Birdsfoot trefoil Cicer milkvetch Sanfoin

Pollinator habitat plantings must remain undisturbed throughout the growing season (until after the first killing frost in the fall) so that flowers are available as a nectar source to adults and succulent herbage can be utilized by larvae. Maintenance treatments, such as grazing, burning, or haying may be required outside of the flowering period. Native and introduced species are generally not compatible in the same planting. Alfalfa, if used with native species, must be limited to no more than five percent of the seed mixture. Other introduced species, such as small burnet and sainfoin, must be used with caution. Plantings should be at least one-half acre in size.

To complete the habitat requirements of pollinator species, intersperse the kind of diverse plantings described above with various sources of cover, such as rock and log piles or trees with exfoliating bark and cavities, as well as a source of water (bird bath, damp, sandy area, small pond, and so forth).

Species Mixture Tables

PLS = Pure Live Seed

Alternative Native Species Mixture Emphasizing Pollinator-Friendly Plants Northern Rockies
Genus	Species	Common	PLS Pounds per Acre	Percent Mixture	Total Pounds PLS
Psudoroegneria	spicata	Bluebunch wheatgrass	6	40	2.4
Elymus	trachycaulus	Slender wheatgrass	6	10	.6
Elymus	lanceolatus	Thickspike wheatgrass	6	30	1.8
Penstemon	eriantherus	penstemon	1.5	5	.075
Linum	lewisii	Flax	3	5	.15
Gaillardia	aristata	Blanketflower	7	5	.35
Achillia	millefolium	Yarrow	.5	5	.02

Total pounds PLS for Northern Rockies = 5.4

Alternative Native Species Mixture Emphasizing Pollinator-Friendly Plants Eastern Plains
Genus	Species	Common	PLS Pounds per Acre	Percent Mixture	Total Pounds PLS
Pascopyrum	smithii	Western wheatgrass	8	40	3.2
Nassella	viridula	Green Needlegrass	5	34	1.7
Elymus	trachycaulus	Slender wheatgrass	6	10	.6
Dalea	candidum	Prairieclover	3	5	.15
Helianthus	maximililiana	Sunflower	1	1	.01
Ratibida	columnifera	Coneflower	1.2	5	.06
Liatris	punctata	Gayfeather	6.4	5	.32

Total pounds PLS for Eastern Plains = 6.04

Alternative Native Species Mixture Emphasizing Pollinator-Friendly Plants Statewide
Genus	Species	Common	PLS Pounds per Acre	Percent Mixture	Total Pounds PLS
Thinopyrum	intermedium	Pubescent wheatgrass	10	80	8
Onobrychis	viciifolia	Sainfoin	34	10	3.4
Sanguisorba	minor	Small burnet	20	5	1
Lotus	corniculatus	Birdsfoot trefoil	3	5	.15

Total pounds PLS for statewide = 12.55

If you have any questions, please contact:

Pete Husby, Biologist
Phone: (406) 587-6902
Email: Peter.Husby

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Last Modified: 06/20/2008