Boston Flora

Tag: Rob Gegear

  • Tuesday, June 10, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm Eastern – Science in Action: 10 Years of Restoring Native Plant-Pollinator Functional Diversity at Breakneck Hill, Online

    Plant-pollinator diversity is declining at an alarming rate worldwide. The continued loss of native plant-pollinator diversity poses a significant threat to health and integrity of terrestrial ecosystems due to the fundamental functional role that ‘pollination products’ play in supporting wildlife diversity across trophic levels. Habitat loss and degradation are widely thought to be significant drivers of pollination system decline; however, surprisingly few current habitat management plans focused on pollinator restoration are based on empirical data, making them ineffective at attracting and sustaining imperiled species. In this talk, Dr. Rob Gegear will discuss how he has used a data-driven, species-level ecological approach to successfully restore native plant-pollinator functional diversity at Breakneck Hill, a 40 acres of conservation land located in Southborough MA. He will also highlight how ‘eco-technology’ and crowdsourced data collection was used to dramatically reduce the amount of time required to develop and implement effective management strategies for imperiled systems. This Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar will be held Tuesday, June 10 at noon. Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at www.ecolandscaping.com

  • Saturday, May 2, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm – Beyond the Honey Bee: Conserving Our Native Pollinators

    The Hubbardston-Ware River Nature Club and the East Quabbin Land Trust will sponsor a day long seminar Beyond the Honey Bee: Conserving Our Native Pollinators, on Saturday, May 2 from 8 – 4:30 at the Harvard Forest in Petersham. The purpose of this event is to increase awareness and provide information and resources to people who want to manage their properties to benefit native pollinators. It is designed for small landowners, public lands managers, small farmers, backyard gardeners, and others who want to manage open space with native pollinator needs in mind. Speakers include Dr. Rob Gegear of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, naturalists Gail Howe Trenholm and Charley Eiseman, Dr. Anne Averill of UMass-Amherst, Tom Sullivan (pictured below – thank you www.gazettenet.com) of PollinatorsWelcome.com, and author and garden coach Ellen Sousa. Schedule and registration information visit: http://hubbardstonnatureclub.weebly.com/conference.html.