Utilizing integrated pest and pollinator management strategies to improve bee communities and plant production in urban community gardens

Introduction of native pollinator plantings has beneficial impacts on insects within agricultural landscapes by providing floral resources and habitat; however, little data exists on how these plantings impact insects in urban community garden settings. A Before-After-Control-Impact framework was used to understand the impact that pollinator garden plantings have within established urban community garden settings in Grant County. Four of the eight community garden sites had 10x 20 gardens with 16 plant species installed. Pollinator communities were surveyed prior to establishing the gardens and insects were sampled over five seasons. Pan traps, pitfall traps, sweep netting, and active scouting were used to determine pollinator, pest and predator populations. Preliminary results suggest that the gardens with pollinator plantings increases bee richness and diversity. Species diversity of bees among gardens with pollinator plantings ranged from 11-15 whereas in community gardens without the pollinator plantings, species ranged from 5-11. Relative abundance of bees and natural predators were also higher in community gardens with pollinator plantings than in those without. Pollination services provided by bees in the community garden was also evaluated using sentinel crop plants. Among the gardens with pollinator plantings, mean number of fruit per plant in “Early Girl’ tomato was 26 compared to 18 in gardens without pollinator plantings. Mean weight, seed count and yield was also higher in tomatoes grown in community gardens with pollinator plantings. Our findings suggest that pollinator plantings provide floral resources for the bee population, attracts pollinators and natural predators and increases crop yields within community gardens.