Recent reports suggesting pollinator species - including birds, bats, butterflies and bees - are declining across North America and Europe brings the longevity of the world's food supply into question. But there might be a simple solution: mow less along highways.
This discovery was made by researchers from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) who were interested in studying how to preserve pollinators and wildflowers along the state's roadsides.
In addition to boosting pollinator and wildflower biodiversity, researchers revealed that mowing less frequently along highways will save the state money and reduce excess gasoline and manpower.
"Our new study will provide mowing recommendations for the FDOT [Florida Department of Transportation]," Jaret Daniels, a UF/IFAS associate professor of entomology, said in a news release. "FDOT is committed to biodiversity conservation and ecological services that roadsides can offer. They additionally have a strong commitment to pollinator and monarch butterfly conservation."
Pollinators are a vital component of agricultural practices, as they visit flowers and crops in search of food in the form of nectar. In return, they widely disperse pollen and ensure crops continue to grow.
In the latest study, UF researchers focused on butterflies as roadside pollinators, because they serve as an indicator species. This means they signal when the local ecosystem may be suffering from environmental changes.
Both live and dead butterflies found along roadways in Alachua County during various FDOT mowing intervals conducted in the spring, summer and fall of 2011 were counted for the study. Overall, researchers discovered butterfly mortality was reduced along roadways that were mowed less frequently. They believe their findings can be applied to conservation measures in other southeastern states, too.
The FDOT aims to create an environment that fosters biodiversity and conserves critical ecosystem services like pollination, Daniels explained. Although roadsides with overgrown grass and flowers are not a favorable sight, the FDOT could reduce right-of-way vegetation management costs by up to 30 percent if they were to implement sustainable management practices such as reduced mowing.
"Mowing less frequently has the potential to accomplish the FDOT's objectives and enhance the abundance of floral resources," Daniels added. "More research is needed to determine the long-term impacts of different mowing regimes on Florida resources and pollinators in Florida."
Their findings were recently published in the journal Florida Entomologist.
