Pollinator resilience in a rare tarplant amid wind energy development

Renewable energy sources like wind are vital for our future, but their development may impact insect pollinators and the rare plants that depend on them. The Gaviota Tarplant (Deinandra increscens ssp. villosa), an endangered herb in the Asteraceae family, relies on insect pollination for reproduction. In 2019, 27 wind turbines were approved to occupy 23 of the 232 global acres of its habitat along the Gaviota Coast, CA, USA.
 
To assess the impact, we monitored 24, 2 x 4 meter pollinator plots including Gaviota Tarplant before (2020–2022), during (2023), and after (2024) turbine construction. Our goals were to (1) detect changes in pollinator abundance, richness, and community composition, and (2) evaluate changes in pollination network structure and the tarplant’s role within it.
 
Over five years, Gaviota Tarplant was involved in 75% of observed plant-pollinator interactions. Despite annual fluctuations in the flowering plant community, pollinator metrics for the tarplant remained stable. Network structure also showed no significant change and remained less connected and more specialized than expected by null models. Gaviota Tarplant consistently served as a connector species, and in 2024, emerged as a hub within the network.
 
These findings highlight the rare tarplant’s critical ecological role and the resilience of its pollinator interactions amid turbine-related disturbance. Continued long-term monitoring and studies on the plant’s reproductive success are essential.