Close your eyes and imagine: It’s summertime, the sun is warming your cheeks as you smile up to blue skies, you feel a light breeze blowing past you, the scents of nature enter your nose — and then you sneeze.
Pollen is in the air again, and the wind isn’t the only thing moving it across our landscapes. Pollinators of all kinds are working overtime throughout the growing season, ensuring our crops, flowers, trees, shrubs and berries are fertilized to produce delicious fruits or seeds for the next season.
In a region that relies on agriculture, forest production and beautiful landscapes for a healthy economy, these feathered, furred and invertebrate members of our ecosystem are significant contributors to the Great Lakes region’s workforce — and the only benefits they want are healthy ecosystems.
What does that mean for our pollinators, and who exactly are they? If you’ve caught sight of a monarch flitting past during their seasonal migration, heard a bee buzzing near you or caught the whoosh of a bat flying overhead on a summer evening, then you’re already familiar with a few of the locals.
Some other species you may not have realized are among the pollinator crews include birds, beetles, moths, ants, wasps and small mammals like chipmunks.
Alongside the pollinator crews come the pest-control crews — some of them overlapping roles as they provide both. These crews maintain crop and forest health by eating pests that would damage plant growth.
Living in an area surrounded by fresh water, lush forests and miles of scenic dunes or rolling fields may lead you to believe that the pollinators in your neck of the woods are thriving.
Unfortunately for many species, habitat loss, climate change and contamination have led to a decline in our native pollinators and their pest-control teammates. What looks like a healthy ecosystem to the eye is actually a host to numerous federally threatened, endangered and at-risk species as well as species of special concern for the state of Michigan.
In Alger County and the surrounding area, this includes species such as the monarch butterfly, the yellow banded bumblebee and the northern long-eared bat.
Consider now that these populations provide their services in areas ranging from just 3 feet up to 100 miles. Covering 100 miles in pollinator habitat might seem like a challenge, but 3 feet is an easy-to-manage garden plot for anyone seeking ways to house nature’s farmhands.
If you’re looking for an alternative to spending a portion of your summertime mowing your property, consider planting a habitat that would connect pollinators from your home and your neighbor’s home to the landscape around you.
There are numerous native wildflowers and grasses that require little maintenance and will boost ecosystem health while creating an aesthetic feature for your own home.
Close your eyes and imagine this: You’re walking toward your home at the end of a long day, and you see your garden blooming in front of you. What once was lawn or bare patches has been converted to wildflowers and grasses, teeming with the ecosystem’s mightiest, yet smallest, providers.
You smile as a breeze carries the scent of wildflowers to you, knowing you chose to plant a garden that creates pollinator habitat and brings you joy in a world that needs more of both those things.
You can learn more about pollinator species through the Michigan Natural Features Inventory webpage created by MSU Extension as well as throughout the rest of Earth Fest — coming later this month.
If you’re curious about native plantings, reach out to your local conservation district.
