<
https://www.scotsman.com/hays-way/bumblebee-population-increases-116-times-over-in-remarkable-scotland-project-4882622>
"The bumblebee population has made an impressive comeback in a developed area
by increasing to 116 times what it was two years ago thanks to a nature
restoration group.
Rewilding Denmarkfield, a 90-acre project based just north of Perth, has been
working to restore nature to green spaces in an increasingly built up area for
the past two years.
Statistics from the charity show in 2021, when some of the fields managed by
the project were still barley monoculture, only 35 bumblebees were counted.
But by 2023, after just two years of nature restoration work in the same
fields, the population increased to 4,056. The diversity of bumblebee also
doubled, according to the charity, from five to ten different species.
Weekly pollinator surveys using the BeeWalk method, a national recording scheme
run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust to monitor the abundance of bumblebees
on transects across the country, enabled Rewilding Denmarkfield to quantify
some of the changes happening.
Ecologist Ellie Corsie, who has been managing the project since it began in
2021, said: “Letting nature lead has had a massive positive impact for
bumblebees. Within two years, the bare soil and barley stubble was naturally
colonised by 84 different plant species.
“This superb variety of plants attracts thousands of pollinators. Many of these
plants, such as spear thistle and smooth hawk’s-beard, are sometimes branded as
‘weeds’. But they are all native species that are benefiting native wildlife in
different ways.
“Due to intensive arable farming, with decades of ploughing, herbicide and
pesticide use, biodiversity was incredibly low when we started. Wildlife had
largely been sanitised from the fields. Rewilding the site has had a remarkable
benefit.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
