Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory
Project Number: 8042-13610-030-079-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Sep 15, 2023
End Date: Sep 30, 2026
Objective:
To determine the magnitude of wild pollinator ecosystem services from current and future conservation easements.
Analyze the private conservation landscape configuration and management techniques for maximum impacts, sustainability, and optimization of pollinator ecosystem services.
Evaluate the returns of conservation practice adoption for both extant and optimized landscape scenarios.
Approach:
We will: 1) Assess all conservation habitat types for wild pollinator usage (nesting and foraging) and corresponding soybean yield impacts in the Corn Belt region of the United States using the InVEST crop pollination model and empirical data from published relevant literature; 2) Conduct field and experimental data expressly for model validation and ecosystem service evaluation; 3) Compare conservation land management techniques (tillage, mowing, cover crops, etc.) for impacts on pollinator ecosystem services in field experiments; 4) Determine and analyze various configuration scenarios of conservation lands for impacts on soybean yields from wild pollinator ecosystem services using the InVEST crop pollination model in both the Midwestern United States as well as Chesapeake Bay Watershed; 5) Combine practice cost data and estimated soybean yield change for both existing and optimized conservation scenarios to determine the ideal amount of habitats through balancing the costs of conservation land, foregone production, and the yield increases from pollinator support.
