JACKSON, Wyo. — Before wildflower season hits, the shoulder season is a good time to support local pollinator populations who are out of hibernation.
A movement started in Europe and adopted by numerous cities in the U.S. called No Mow May calls attention to the need to reduce mowing in May to support more native habitat so insect species are able to find sufficient food.
Kevin Taylor, lead guide with Wildlife Expeditions of Teton Science Schools and local beekeeper, confirms to Buckrail that manicured lawns don’t support insect pollinators or their habitat because of the lack of available native wildflowers. While Taylor points out grass is actually a wildflower, he says that it evolved to be pollinated by wind so it doesn’t have to have the big, showy flowers that attract animal pollinators.
Steve Ussery, director and president of High Mountain Pollinators and Bees based in the western Wyoming and eastern Idaho region, says the idea of No Mow May is relevant to local properties like golf courses and homes on larger land parcels. But Ussery also notes that Jackson’s small size allows pollinators better access to habitat than places like larger cities. For instance, pollinators have access to the vertical elevation change that creates different bloom times, which gives pollinators multiple chances with the same flower.
“Planting early flowering and late flowering plants, things to help [pollinators] on the wings of the main flowering season, that’s what I do,” Ussery tells Buckrail.
The importance of native plants to pollinators is substantial because many native plants and pollinators co-evolved. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) highlights that this interdependence exists because pollinators adapted to have specific physical characteristics that allow them to access particular flower types, and vice versa.
The USFS calls these characteristics “Pollinator Syndrome Traits,” which include the long bill of hummingbirds to access tubular flowers and the wide landing pad of flowers that attract butterflies, among many others. Taylor notes that there’s even several species of lupines with pigmentation on their petals that change color and are hypothesized to be able to let pollinators know when they’ve already been pollinated; this helps save the pollinator energy and time.
This interdependency of pollinator and plant species underscores why efforts to restore and support native plant communities is crucial to the long-term success of Jackson’s ecology and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a whole.
“When people talk about biodiversity, oftentimes they talk about birds or mammals,” Taylor says. “But if you’re talking about biodiversity, you’re really looking at plants and insects.”
In addition to planting native species and promoting habitat diversity, both Taylor and Ussery encourage avoiding herbicides and pesticides. Ussery says broadleaf herbicides are problematic as most of the area’s flowering plants are broadleaf, and recommends minimizing their use.
