LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/830178
Summer 2017 LOCALadk Magazine 63 LOCALadk reduces the number and diversity of flowering plants that pollinators rely upon as food sources, as well as viable nesting habitat for wild bee populations (which are critical for pollina- tion) and other wild pollinator populations. The application of pesticides also poses a substantial threat to pollinator populations. One class of pesticides, neonicoti- noids, has been in the news due to its particularly damaging effects on pollinators. Neonics, as they are called, are toxic to bees and other insects, but are often used because they are generally safer for mammals, fish, and humans. The use of in- secticides to treat crops and turf weakens pollinator defenses and makes them more susceptible to disease and bacteria. Dr. Grozinger shared that managed populations of honeybees are being overtaken by Varroa mites – small, parasitic insects that are capable of completely devastating bee colonies. The effects of global climate change – increasingly common extreme weather events and severe temperature fluctuations – also threaten the stability of pollinator populations. Dr. Ezra Schwartzberg, a local entomologist and the Director of Ad- irondack Research, describes this phenological asynchrony, or the inability of insects to adjust to seasonal changes in the en- vironment, as being particularly relevant in the Adirondacks. Luckily, New York State is responding to the alarming de- cline in pollinator health. Last summer, Governor Cuomo an- nounced the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan. This plan follows the recommendations for the New York State Pollinator Task Force, which is comprised of industry leaders from New York State's Departments of Agriculture and Mar- kets and Environmental Conservation, to address pollinator crisis. The plan outlines a roadmap to increase the health of pollinators across the state through the development of best management, habitat enhancement, research and monitoring to better understand, prevent, and recover from pollinator losses, and outreach and education to raise public awareness of the issues. Anton Atanasov