Project Description: The primary objective of this project is to collect data on the bee and butterfly species present in MIMA and BOHA to inform their mowing, herbicide, and conservation activities. The expected result is to develop and implement a sampling method and training materials for MIMA and BOHA parks, and potentially other park units that will be identified through the I&M program for pollinator inventories. There is potential to scale up this project with additional parks and university partners once the training material and data collection methods are drafted and field tested. Ultimately, each park will determine a baseline pollinator species list that may be re-evaluated every 10-15 years through lethal sampling, develop a list of species or taxa groups that can be inventoried every 3-5 years using non-lethal methods, and identify species of conservation concern that may serve as “umbrella” conservation species whose management would protect other co-occurring species. We will use data collected in this project and a general literature review to provide park-specific recommendations for pollinator-friendly mowing and management practices.
Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Rachael Winfree, Rutgers University
Partner Institution: Rutgers University
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Federal Agency Technical Contact: Tracy Valerius
Project Type: Research
Project Discipline: Natural Resources
Project Sub-Discipline(s): Biological (Ecology, Fish, Wildlife, Vegetation, T&E)
Start Year: 2023
End Year: 2026
Initial Funding Amount: $112,449.11
Federal Grant Number: P23AC01536
Amendments
- Amendment Number: 01, Year: 2024, Amount: $97,023.28
Location: Minuteman National Historical Site and Boston Harbors National Recreation Area
State(s): Massachusetts