DAVIS ARBORETUM INSTALLATION OF
POLLINATOR
MEADOW
IS UNDER WAY
The Davis Arboretum received an Auburn
University concessions grant to complete the
installation of a new pollinator meadow. The
purpose of the meadow is to draw attention to
and provide information about the importance of
pollinators.
fruit, and these plants supply much of our food and
even more of the food upon which wildlife depends.
Pollinators are also responsible for aiding the
reproduction of many of the flowering plants and
trees in native landscapes.
The meadow is part of a larger area that is
composed of a carnivorous plant bog display, an
additional meadow, and a longleaf pine stand. The
entire area includes about 21,500 square feet, with
the two meadow areas comprising about 6,000
square feet. The entire area serves as an educational
tool for Auburn University classes and researchers,
as well as outreach programs for the community
and K-12 schools.
“Research has shown that time spent outside in a
natural setting can positively affect mental health.
So in addition to conservation and education,
we are providing an aesthetically pleasing and
potentially health-improving display for the
hundreds of Auburn students who walk through
the Davis Arboretum each week on their way to
class,” said Smith. “All of these are excellent reasons
to care about pollinator conservation.”
For more information on the Davis Arboretum,
including information on how you can support this
effort or the many other conservation, education, and
research projects under way at the arboretum, please
visit the website at www.auburn.edu/arboretum, or
contact Dee Smith at [email protected].
Pollinators, such as bees, hummingbirds, and some
varieties of butterflies, move pollen from one part
of the flower of a plant to another part. The pollen
then fertilizes the plant, and only fertilized plants
can make fruit and/or seeds. Without pollinators,
most plants cannot reproduce.
Due to a serious worldwide decline in many
pollinators, these insects are in need of conservation
assistance. Threatening factors include habitat loss,
disease, and pollution, among others. The Xerces
Society for Invertebrate Conservation developed
the Red List of Species of Pollinating Insects to
determine which are at greatest risk for extinction.
The list of species includes 59 butterflies and moths
and 57 bees. Nearly 75 percent of flowering plants
rely, to some degree, on pollinators to set seed or
52
Journey/Fall: 2015
The Davis Arboretum’s pollinator meadow will
contribute to the conservation of pollinators. The
meadow will also include educational signage
detailing the effects of decreasing pollinators
and what the public can do to help. For example,
included in the installation will be information on
the status of the monarch butterfly, a species whose
numbers have been dwindling. The meadow will
also include extensive planting of milkweed, which
is the only larval (caterpillar) food used by the
monarch butterfly.
“Beginning last year, the arboretum staff has
been working to prepare the site and grow plants
from seeds,” said Dee Smith, curator of the Davis
Arboretum. “We are currently planting everything
that we grew last year and developing the signage
that will accompany the display.”