Designing Ecologically Beneficial Habitat for Diverse Farming Systems

View the project report

Commodities

• Additional Plants: native plants
• Animals: bees

Practices

• Crop Production: pollinator habitat
• Education and Training: demonstration, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research
• Natural Resources/Environment: habitat enhancement, wildlife
• Production Systems: agroecosystems

We propose developing a program to help growers better implement habitat involving three objectives:

Objective 1. Create and install a habitat design for southeastern agroecosystems.

Objective 2: Document the benefits of habitat installation. Objective 3: Hold a workshop for southeastern growers detailing the habitat design, where to find resources (seeds and plugs), installation process, and benefits so as to empower growers to install habitat on their own farms. This proposal addresses the Beneficial Insect Habitat and Increasing Sustainability of Existing Farming Practices focal areas by developing a plant mix that will provide habitat for native beneficial insects on farms and encouraging a practice that will increase the sustainability of farms. Our project team includes local experts on sustainable agriculture (CEFS [Center for Environmental Farming Systems], NC [North Carolina] State Cooperative Extension), farming experience in the southeastern US (farmer cooperator), local, native plants (NC State Cooperative Extension, NC Botanical Garden), and beneficial insects in agricultural areas (NC State University). We will use our collective knowledge, as well as established literature, to successfully conduct the proposed project. 

Objective 1.
Create and install a habitat design for southeastern agroecosystems

In order to create a habitat design that supports wildlife and meets grower needs, we asked respondents in our survey to southeastern US growers what kind of habitat they would be interested in installing on their farm. The most frequent response indicated that 39.3% of respondents were interested in habitat designed for field margins/edges. 19.7% of respondents were interested in installing habitat that included plants species native to the southeastern US, specifically. And finally, 17.1% of respondents preferred habitat that included perennial, herbaceous plant species. We also asked respondents what benefits and ecosystem services they were hoping to gain from the habitat. More than a quarter of the respondents (29.9%) reported that they wanted to support wildlife by installing habitat. 22.7% reported that they were interested in increasing pest control in their crops. And 17.5% reported an interest in increased crop yield as a result of habitat installation. All of these ecosystem services have been documented to benefit from habitat installation in previous literature (Blaauw & Isaacs, 2014; Levenson & Tarpy, 2023; Blaauw & Isaacs, 2015; Levenson et al., 2022). Some respondents also reported an interest in economic benefits, with 10.1% interested in using the habitat for seed harvesting and 13.9% interested in using the habitat for cut flowers. We will use these survey results, as well as the feedback from our grower cooperator, when creating the habitat design. Once a design is finalized, we will use funds from this proposal to install the habitat design on 3 North Carolina farms. Our team will provide growers with the design, plants and seeds, and assist in installation.

Objective 2:

Document the benefits of habitat installation

Out of our 200 respondents, 51.1% reported growing crop types on their farms that rely to some extent on pollinators and so could see direct benefits from habitat installation. These crops could also receive indirect benefits from habitat installation in the form of increased natural enemies that help control pest populations. To ensure that our habitat design will provide these ecosystem services to farms, we will conduct pre- and post-installation insect surveys on the 3 farms where habitat is installed. In these surveys we will document the abundance and diversity of pollinators and natural enemies, comparing pre-installment measures to post-installment measures. The results from these surveys will be used in our end-of-project workshop to provide information to growers on the benefits of installing habitat.

Objective 3:

Hold a workshop for southeastern growers 

The great majority of respondents (80.0%) were interested in attending an end-of-project workshop. At this workshop we will detail the entire process of habitat installation: from habitat design to the documented benefits. This will include feedback from our farmer cooperator and participating farms (where habitat will be installed) to the audience. This workshop will also provide an opportunity for growers to ask any questions they have and address any reservations or barriers they are experiencing that might limit their ability to implement habitat. The goal of this workshop is to close the gap between interest and knowledge on how to conduct conservation efforts, such as adding ecologically beneficial habitat into agricultural areas.

Objective 1.
Create and install a habitat design for southeastern agroecosystems

To create a regionally relevant habitat design that supports wildlife and meets grower needs, we will use our team’s expertise. Our team has firsthand experience with habitat design, installation, and management in North Carolina. We will also consult with relevant literature in plant selection (e.g. Mallinger et al., 2019; Roos, 2023) and design elements (e.g. Seth Carley & Spafford, 2021; NCBG, 2019). As mentioned above, we will use the survey results to guide our habitat design.

Once a design is finalized, we will install the habitat on 3 North Carolina farms. We will use funds from this project to provide participating farms with the necessary plants, plugs, and seeds. We will detail site preparation, plant placement, plant density and spacing, and maintenance protocols. We will assist growers on the initial installation and provide further guidance on management as needed.

By creating a habitat design we address the 34.3% of survey respondents that reported needing more help or information before they could install habitat on their farm. By providing the plants, plugs, and seeds to participating farms we help alleviate the 57.3% of respondents that report access to resources as a major barrier to installing habitat, and directly address the 5.6% of respondents that reported limited access to seeds and plants.  

Objective
2: Document the benefits of habitat installation

We will conduct pre- and post-habitat installation insect surveys to document that our habitat design is providing ecosystem services to farms. The pre-installation survey will be done in Year 1, and the post-installation survey will be done in Year 2.

For both surveys, we will follow similar sampling methods to those outlined in Levenson & Tarpy, 2023, which includes two sampling methods: active hand netting and passive pan trapping. Active hand netting involves using an insect net to collect insects and transferring collected samples into storage containers. Pan trapping involves using small plastic cups painted yellow, blue, and white. The paint used on the cups reflects specific UV wavelengths that attract insects. The cups are filled with soapy water, which breaks the water’s surface tension, and acts as a passive collection tool for insects. By using both methods together, we will collect a more thorough sample of the insect community as netting collects larger bodied insects and pan traps collect smaller, harder to detect insects. Both sampling methods will be used once a month for 4 months during peak season of the habitat (expected May - September, depending on geographic location). 

Pan traps will be placed around the edge of the habitat installation area. Traps will be placed out in the field at 9 AM each day and left out for 6 hours (collected at 3 PM). The contents of the traps will be stored at -20 C until further processing. Hand netting will be conducted for a total of 1 hour each month, along a haphazard transect within the habitat installation area. Each netting survey will consist of two 30-minute surveys - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This will enable us to account for temporal differences in insect abundance and diversity across time of day. While netting is most commonly used to document bee pollinators, in this context we will collect any flying insect in order to evaluate all ecosystem services provided by this habitat. Each collected specimen will be placed in individual tubes and stored at -20 C until further processing. All collected specimens will be identified down to the lowest taxonomic level possible at the Specialty Crops Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management Laboratory at NC State University.

Objective
3: Hold a workshop for southeastern growers 

At the end of Year 2, we will hold a workshop for southeastern growers to outline our findings. We will share the details of our habitat design, including what plants were selected and why, installation protocols, and if there’s any changes to our recommendations after the installation experience. We will also provide information on local sources of seeds, plants, and plugs, as well as general guidelines for how our habitat design can be adapted for specific needs. At the workshop, our grower cooperator and participating farms where habitat was installed will share their experience with installing the habitat. They will share any lessons learned and any updated recommendations. We will also share our findings from the pre- and post-installation insect surveys. While these results will be preliminary, as the habitat will be at most one year old at the time of the post-survey, we will discuss the benefits growers can expect from the habitat in the long-term. The workshop will close with an open discussion portion where attendees will have the opportunity to ask any questions they have as well as address any reservations or barriers to installing habitat they may be experiencing. The information in this workshop will help address concerns that growers reported in our southeastern US grower survey such as limited information (34.3%) and understanding of habitat benefits (19.5%), as well as needing help understanding how to install habitat and where to find resources (14.8%).