Bees in the City: Natives are Better
Cities in general are considered biodiversity poor due to the harsh environment, e.g., urban heat island effect, and the constant disturbance. Alternative, for many insect pollinators, like bees, cities can be a refuge of sorts. Many cities can host as many bee species as restored prairies, and many times that of agricultural lands. Yet, we still don’t have a full understanding of the underlying mechanism. We propose that employing native plant species for landscaping is one of the main drivers of this pattern. We sampled plants and bees in homes enrolled in a backyard conservation program in the St. Louis area for two years. Homes with native plants had significantly more bees than those with non-natives. Our results strongly suggest the important role that native plants have in providing resources to native bees.