United States Department of Energy

October 17, 2022

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $14 million in funding to researchers to study how solar energy infrastructure interacts with wildlife and ecosystems. These projects are part of DOE’s nearly $100 million renewable power research portfolio that invests in innovative, cost-effective solutions to minimize wildlife impacts—and maximize the environmental benefits—of renewable energy technologies. As renewable energy deployment grows to combat the climate crisis and achieve President Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, DOE is supporting research to ensure renewable energy deployment also benefits native wildlife and ecosystems.

“DOE is committed to ensuring that renewable energy deployment protects natural environments,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “This first-ever DOE investment in tools to better understand how solar energy infrastructure interacts with native wildlife and the environment will help increase adoption of ecosystem-friendly clean energy deployment.”

Read the rest of the press release at the DoE website.

Buzzing Around Solar: Pollinator Habitat Under Solar Arrays

U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO)

June 21, 2022

Pollinators—such as bees, butterflies, and other insects—are critical to the success of about 35 percent of global food crop production. In order to thrive, pollinators must have a suitable habitat. Establishing pollinator-friendly plants under and around ground-mounted solar arrays has the potential to provide this critical habitat and benefit both the pollinators and nearby agriculture. But a number of important questions remain about the impacts of pollinator-friendly solar and how to implement it at a large scale.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) is working to better understand the economic, ecological, and performance impacts of co-locating pollinator habitat and solar arrays. This research is part of our broader agrivoltaics research, which studies how solar and agriculture can co-locate.

Read the rest of the article at the SETO website.

KPAX.COM (Missoula, MT)

August 22, 2022

With urban turf and ornamental landscapes among the fastest growing ecosystems on the planet, a new effort funded by the Lolo National Forest and spearheaded by Missoula County will turn an eye to the needs of the region’s native pollinators.

A $25,000 grant from the Forest Service to the local Weed District will support the planning and eventual launch of a new Missoula County Pollinator Conservation plan. The goal is to identify the region’s native pollinators and improve the habitat they rely upon – and do so in the easiest of places.

Read the rest of the article at the KPAX website.

WE Energies

Press Release

August 16, 2022

We Energies and its parent company, WEC Energy Group, are joining a new nationwide effort to help restore and increase the monarch butterfly population. The companies are among the first in Wisconsin’s utility industry to take part in this important initiative.

The monarch butterfly population has shrunk by 80% in the eastern United States since the 1990s due to the loss of habitat and food sources. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is considering listing the monarch butterfly as threatened or endangered by 2024. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) added the migratory monarch butterfly to its Red List earlier this summer, stating the species is threatened with extinction.

We Energies is part of a WEC Energy Group effort that has committed to conserving and restoring monarch butterfly habitat on nearly 500 acres of its properties. New and expanded habitats will be maintained across the state, including land near the power plants at the Oak Creek/Elm Road campus and several hydroelectric facilities.

“This is another step in our commitment to serve our communities and build a bright, sustainable future,” said Scott Lauber, president — We Energies. “This dedicated effort to preserve, restore and manage habitats will play a vital role in the survival of monarch butterflies, improving biodiversity on a landscape scale, and the success of our ecosystem for decades to come.“

We Energies’ efforts are part of the Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement for Monarch Butterflies. This national program is being led by the USFWS and University of Illinois Chicago to encourage transportation and energy partners to participate in monarch butterfly conservation.

Read the original press release on the We Energies website.

Railway Age

August 3, 2022

Here’s something probably not too many rail industry people know: The migration path of the Monarch Butterfly, recently declared an endangered species, closely follows the alignment of the combined north-south Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern networks, which (pending merger approval by the Surface Transportation Board) will in early 2023 merge to form CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City), North America’s first transnational freight railroad.

Thus, the Monarch Butterfly “represents North American unity,” say CP, KCS, GATX, the Monterrey (Mexico) Metropolitan Rotary Club and NASCO (North American Supply Chain Organization), which have launched the Save the Monarch Butterfly 60,000 Tree Challenge North American Boxcar Tour to raise $100,000. The funds raised will be used to plant 60,000 Oyamel fir trees at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico to help reestablish the monarch population.

Read the rest of the article at the Railway Age website.

Cornell Chronicle (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY)

August 8, 2022

A New York state survey, supported by Cornell bee experts, finds that more than half of important native pollinators may be at risk of disappearing from the state – potentially threatening crops, wildflowers and insect diversity.

The three-year Empire State Native Pollinator Survey, released Aug. 4 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), found that at least 38% – and as many as 60% – of the pollinators targeted by the survey are at risk because they are rare or declining. For bees, up to 24% of the species may be at risk and an additional 11% are considered possibly extirpated, or known only from historical records. The survey is among the most systematic conservation status assessments of pollinators conducted by any state, according to its authors.

Read the rest of the article at the Cornell Chronicle website.

 

University of Minnesota

June 28, 2022

Most people spend little time considering roadsides. Not so for College of Biological Sciences Associate Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Emilie Snell-Rood, who has overseen three projects and more than 400 roadside site surveys in Minnesota to determine the benefits and the risks of developing roadside habitats for declining native plants and pollinators. She is using the results of this research to help with conservation efforts by providing data-driven guidance to roadside managers.

Providing crucial support for 70 percent of the country’s crops, pollinators and insects, including native bees and monarch butterflies, are an important part of our ecosystem, yet many are declining due to factors including habitat loss. To counteract this decline, many are looking toward investing in roadsides, including the Biden Administration, which recently passed an infrastructure bill containing millions of dollars in funding toward roadside monarch habitat. In Minnesota alone, roadsides offer the potential for over half a million acres of viable pollinator-friendly habitat.

Read the rest of the article here.

Smithsonian Magazine

July 29, 2022

Bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and other nectar-seeking wildlife are often heralded for the vital role they play in pollinating flowering plants on land.

Now, there’s a new creature to add to the very important pollinator list, one that helps plants flourish in a surprising place: underwater.

Scientists have discovered that a small, bug-like crustacean called Idotea balthica can pollinate red seaweed, a type of algae often found growing in tide pools. The findings, published Thursday in the journal Science, add to a small but growing body of evidence that raises questions about whether animal-mediated pollination may have first evolved underwater, instead of on land. It’s also possible that pollination evolved in separate instances, underwater and on land.

Continue reading this article at the Smithsonian Magazine website.

 

Press release from Duke Energy

July 21, 2022

As part of its commitment to support the vitality of a healthy ecosystem, Duke Energy Florida has aligned efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), among other agencies, to protect a population of federally endangered wildflowers in central Florida.

Earlier this spring, Duke Energy environmental scientists joined various agencies and stakeholders to maximize the preservation and protection of the federally endangered clasping warea (Warea amplexifolia) and the federally threatened sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) found in an unincorporated community in Marion County, near Ocklawaha.

Read the rest of the press release at the Duke Energy website.

Napa Valley Register (Napa, CA)

July 19, 2022