Protecting our Pollinators: The Science of Mowing
Pollinator is a term that refers to many creatures — usually bees, butterflies, moths and beetles but sometimes birds, bats and other small mammals — that visit flowers and take away pollen. By moving pollen around, these creatures help plants reproduce, including trees that are critical to our forested watershed and much of the food we eat.
The watersheds that surround our reservoirs now include many safe places for pollinators to live, eat, migrate and reproduce. But insect pollinator populations, including some that live in New York, have experienced a global decline.
That’s why our scientists and land management staff now manage about 145 acres of land as pollinator habitat. That land is spread across 22 separate parcels in the Catskills and Hudson Valley.
Much of their work focuses on the frequency and timing of mowing. Each parcel has a specific mowing schedule that is designed to support local pollinators. These areas are mowed every 1–3 years. Parcels larger than 10 acres are mowed in sections to allow pollinators to quickly migrate to new habitat. Mowing is only done in the early spring or late fall to minimize the effect on pollinator species. What’s more, the blade height on the mower is raised to 8–10 inches to preserve habitat in stems for overwintering larvae.
Along the way, our scientists study the plant species on each parcel, the prevalence of pollinators, and whether additional lands are suitable for the program.
This small change in land management makes a big difference for pollinators that are responsible for our flowers, forests and food. That makes them important to Earth, and to us.
