Rugosana

Our Team Springtails is excited and honored that our project has been selected as a finalist in the OurEcho Challenge organized by EarthEcho International. Any and every project students undertake to help the environment is equal value and significance, and regardless of our personal victories, Nature is the real winner. Hope more young people are inspired to appreciate, save and protect our planet’s beautiful biodiversity for future generations. For more, visit EarthEcho International.

Our project

We wish to create a nectar and nutrient rich habitat by planting specific host plants for migratory butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, in order to address the significant decline of these insects in our urban setting. Through habitat enhancement, specific native vegetation, and organic practices at our site, we hope to invite a greater diversity and higher populations of pollinators. We will also document phenological observations of the visitors, the plants, and the interspecific interactions to get a better understanding of the world of pollinators, insects, and arthropods. Based on the findings from our small-scale endeavor, we will extend our project to neighboring areas along the river. We also hope to inspire the community to create a continuity of native habitats through .

Biodiversity

Our site of study is a residential yard that extends into the untended sloping bank of the Mystic River. A few established trees of Maple, Elm, Juniper, and Oak grow in this highly fragmented portion of the Temperate Deciduous Biome, with warm and humid summers and cold snowy winters. The river affords continuity to small aquatic organisms, fish, turtles, beavers, herons, raptors, ducks, and cormorants. Raptors such as Cooper’s Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks have visited this site, whereas Ospreys, Falcons, and Bald Eagles have been observed to fly over the river. A few individuals of the local passerine species such as American Robins and migratory passerine species such as the Catbird, and mammals such as rodents and raccoons visit the yard, which has lawn grass, a tree trunk, but no shrubs. Our summer survey revealed several arthropod species, but bees, hoverflies, and lepidopterans were scarce.

Observations

We have documented over 300 species of animals from our site over the past year. These include 2 species of fish, 2 species of turtles, 118 species of birds (documented on eBird), 11 species of mammals, and 216 species of arthropods, (an increase by 109 species since last year) ranging from the tiny 0.3mm springtails – which decompose fungi and mold – to 100mm long predatory wasps. However, we have only observed 21 of 1121 species of butterflies and moths, and 11 of 87 species of bees (8 new species this year), recorded on iNaturalist in Middlesex County, MA. This prompted us to understand the factors that affect the survival of pollinator species and consider solutions and practices beneficial to all insects and arthropods, and thereby the whole ecosystem.

Clearly, this is an important issue not only to Team Springtails but to our whole community. We hope to use our model to educate others to reestablish habitat continuity.

Pollinators, Insects and Arthropods

Habitat loss and fragmentation due to agriculture, human population growth, and the extensive use of harmful chemicals are the main contributors to the decline of insect populations worldwide, and consequently, a decline in overall biodiversity. Wagner et al. (2021) point out:

“Insects comprise much of the animal biomass linking primary producers and consumers, as well as higher-level consumers in freshwater and terrestrial food webs. Situated at the nexus of many trophic links, many numerically abundant insects provide ecosystem services upon which humans depend…the macro decomposition of leaves and wood and removal of dung and carrion, which contribute to nutrient cycling, soil formation, and water purification.”

In his presentation, ‘Restoring the Little Things that Run the World’, Prof. Douglas Tallamy, author of Nature’s Best Hope, highlights the importance of insects and encourages individuals to plant keystone native species and “create ecosystems stitched together” facilitating a biological corridor in order to reduce the impact of habitat fragmentation.

Our observations show that while there is rich biodiversity in our area, there is a need for habitat enrichment to facilitate the survival and an increase in populations of pollinator species, insects, and other arthropods. We have observed Blue Jays, Cardinals, American Robins, Chickadees, Orioles, and Catbirds nesting in the area during the summer months and feeding caterpillars and larvae to their young. Nuthatches, Titmice, Flickers, and Downy Woodpeckers are also seen foraging here. During Spring and Fall migrations, we have observed over 19 species of warblers foraging for insects on the trees or fallen leaves, which indicated the importance of plant litter. Leaf blowing and clearing of leaf debris would result in the removal of larvae, caterpillars, and insects and subsequently a source of food for birds and adult arthropod populations the following year. Leaf litter is also important for mammals – such as mice, squirrels, and chipmunks – to line their nests.

As bees tend to stay close to the source of nectar, we will establish nest boxes for bees. We will also put water stations for the small arthropods and include terracotta bird baths to provide relief during the heat of summer for American Robins, Cardinals, and other birds.

Last summer, we requested the property management to cease leaf blowing and lawn mowing. We will ask them to do the same this year and watch for improved arthropod activity in these leaves.

To address the issue of habitat fragmentation, we will build raised plant beds with pine and fill it with a peat-free, organic soil and create a native wildflower habitat. We have drafted a preliminary design for the raised planting. Please see attached figure.

For plant selection, we analyzed iNaturalist data for flowering plants native to our area and compared it with the list provided by Mass Audubon. We have ordered organic and non-GMO seeds accordingly.

In order to time the flowering with the emergence of adult pollinators, we will germinate these seeds indoors and transplant them to the raised beds. We will be planting over 10 species of wildflowers including Goldenrod, Dense Blazing Star, Yarrow, and Purple Coneflower. For Monarch butterflies, we will also plant Milkweed species, essential for their caterpillars to survive and thrive.

As our site has no shrubs or understory to provide safety and shelter for birds and arthropods, we wish to purchase established plants such as Mapleleaf Viburnum and Sweet Pepperbush.

While we wish to adopt immediate solutions such as native wildflower plantings, we would have to also consider the cyclic and seasonal changes of pollinator-plant interactions, flowering times, and weather patterns and will make these phenological observations over the course of a year or more.

It would be interesting to see if the inclusion of wildflowers and shrubs increases the visitation of more species of bees, butterflies, and moths, and also greater populations of birds to our site.

We wish to test whether the presence of specific native species of wildflowers, the adoption of organic practices and beneficial techniques, and phenological observations over time in a small space would allow us to adopt this model with others in the neighborhood through seed distribution and education.

We dedicate our Springtails Native Wildflower Habitat to Nimi.