Feature project: Secure pollination through revegetation

Blue banded bee pollinating lucerne

Pollination services are under threat as the agricultural landscapes often do not offer enough food for pollinators when the crop isn’t in flower. A pollination deficit is foreseen when, due to an incursion of the Varroa mite, we will lose our feral honey bees.

How can growers of pollination dependent crops safeguard pollination services and contribute to the health of crop pollinating community?

This project explores the plantings that can assist with crop pollination.

Meet the team

  • Team Bee

    Dr Katja Hogendoorn is an expert in native bees and crop pollination. She performs the day-to-day coordination of the project, leads the Bee team, investigats the bee species that pollinate crops, their diet and the potential for competition between crops and flowering plants.

    Dr Scott Groom investigates the importance of native vegetation for the pollination of apple and lucerne, and collaborates with the growers organisations (lucerne, almonds, apple and canola) and beekeepers.

    Dr Remko Leijs creates a molecular bee barcode library to identify bees collected from crops and native plants, in collaboration with the SA Museum

    Trace Akankunda (PhD student) investigates the diet width of native bees, and assists in making the bee barcode library

  • Revegetation design team

    Professor Andy Lowe is an expert in monitoring, management and utilisation of plants and trees. He leads the revegetation design team and liaises with the wide range of South Australian food industry and government partners involved in the project.

    Dr Nick Gellie develops revegetation strategies around the crops in collaboration with our revegetation partners Trees for Life and Greening Australia.

    Dr Eleanor Dormontt works with Dr Korjent van Dijk to create a molecular barcode library to identify pollen collected by bees in South Australia, in collaboration with the SA Herbarium

    Dr Korjent van Dijk works with Dr Eleanor Dormontt to create a molecular barcode library to identify pollen collected by bees in South Australia, in collaboration with the SA Herbarium

    Dona Kireta (PhD student) investigates the importance of plant diversity for the recovery of pollinator diversity in revegetation

  • Value team

    Assoc. Professor Patrick O’Connor collaborates with Dr Daniel Gregg, Dr Carine Saison and Dr Valerie Lawley to measure the perceived and actual economic value of revegetation for pollinators, in collaboration with the Native Vegetation Council and O’Connor NRM PTY Ltd

  • Pollin8 team

    Dr Andrew Tokmakoff works with Tom Saleeba to produce a web-based tool, Pollin8, that allows growers to estimate costs and benefits for revegetation. Here, you can get an idea how this tool will work (in collaboration with TERN)

    Tom Saleeba works with Dr Andrew Tokmakoff to produce a web-based tool, Pollin8, that allows growers to estimate costs and benefits for revegetation. Here, you can get an idea how this tool will work (in collaboration with TERN)

     

Our partners

This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program.