Atlanta BeltLine benefits people and pollinators

Volunteers at work planting native flora along the Atlanta BeltLine walking and biking trail. (Photo by Trees Atlanta).

Judith Moen writes in Ensia Magazine about how the Atlanta BeltLine is serving as a model for the future of urban green space, driving economic, cultural and environmental renewal. Below is an excerpt from the article:

"Efforts to clean up 1,100 acres of contaminated brownfields and plant more than 3,000 indigenous trees and grasses are bringing back biodiversity not seen in decades.

"'The native plantings they have done had a tremendous positive impact,' says Berry Brosi, associate professor of environmental sciences at Emory University. 'We found enormous areas in terms of pollinator abundance.'

In fact, an unpublished study Brosi conducted found on average three times as many bee species and five times as many bees in pollinator planting sites along the BeltLine than in mowed grass.

'I noticed for the first time in my backyard, we are seeing bees, butterflies, even fireflies, which is different than four years ago,' says Chad Ralston, who lives nearby and bikes almost daily."

Read the whole article in Ensia.

Related:
Pollinator extinctions alter structure of ecological networks
The top 10 policies needed now to protect pollinators




from eScienceCommons http://ift.tt/2uDo2If

Volunteers at work planting native flora along the Atlanta BeltLine walking and biking trail. (Photo by Trees Atlanta).

Judith Moen writes in Ensia Magazine about how the Atlanta BeltLine is serving as a model for the future of urban green space, driving economic, cultural and environmental renewal. Below is an excerpt from the article:

"Efforts to clean up 1,100 acres of contaminated brownfields and plant more than 3,000 indigenous trees and grasses are bringing back biodiversity not seen in decades.

"'The native plantings they have done had a tremendous positive impact,' says Berry Brosi, associate professor of environmental sciences at Emory University. 'We found enormous areas in terms of pollinator abundance.'

In fact, an unpublished study Brosi conducted found on average three times as many bee species and five times as many bees in pollinator planting sites along the BeltLine than in mowed grass.

'I noticed for the first time in my backyard, we are seeing bees, butterflies, even fireflies, which is different than four years ago,' says Chad Ralston, who lives nearby and bikes almost daily."

Read the whole article in Ensia.

Related:
Pollinator extinctions alter structure of ecological networks
The top 10 policies needed now to protect pollinators




from eScienceCommons http://ift.tt/2uDo2If