Honors Theses
Advisor
Ryan McEwan
Department
Biology
Publication Date
Spring 4-2016
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Abstract
Urban agriculture is an ancient concept that is gaining momentum in the United States in connection with urban renewal projects and efforts to mediate urban food deserts. These agriculture efforts represent a potential habitat for pollinator communities within the urban hardscape. Pollinator communities are threatened by urban landscape transformation, and bee species, in particular, are in a state of global decline due to various stressors. Urban agriculture has the potential to sustain both human and ecological communities, and the pollinators that visit gardens may provide pollination to plant species in the surrounding area. We investigated the influence of urban land use on pollinator populations in urban Dayton to (a) quantify pollinators visiting urban gardens and (b) compare pollinator frequency and occurrences among urban gardens, vacant lots (abandoned with no management) and manicured lawns. Three sites were chosen around the Dayton area, an urban garden, a lawn, and a vacant lot. Phytometers and a modified Pollard walk were used to monitor the frequency of pollination within the sites. We discovered that the amount of pollinator frequency increased with the flora diversity of the lots. With the manicured lawn having the fewest pollinator visits and the managed urban garden having the most pollinator visit. We saw a relationship between human landscaping and the pollinator communities. From this data we have a better understanding of the effect of the urban landscape on pollinators that will lead to a better use of vacant lots and urban spaces within the city of Dayton.
Permission Statement
This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes.
Keywords
Undergraduate research
Disciplines
Biodiversity | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
eCommons Citation
Giaquinto, Angela Nicole, "Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function and the Pollination Ecology of Urban Gardens in Dayton, Ohio" (2016). Honors Theses. 88.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses/88
