University of Massachussetts Amherst, Massachusetts
Large-scale ground-mounted solar facilities are expanding rapidly across the United States. This expansion has the potential to have detrimental impacts for biodiversity due to loss of habitat, but it can also provide opportunities for conservation, including the preservation of plant and insect biodiversity, and encouraging ecosystem services like pollination. However, few studies have examined this in the Northeastern United States landscape, where forest is the dominant habitat type. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between landscape (e.g. proportion of forest in the landscape), site characteristics (e.g. site size) and plant diversity on flower visitor communities in solar facilities in Massachusetts and New York. Over two field seasons, we systematically conducted transect and quadrat surveys to document insect abundance, plant composition, and plant-flower visitor interactions. We evaluate the relationship between landscape and site characteristics to determine which factors drive insect abundance and diversity. We identify the dominant insect taxa and discuss the implications for plant insect interactions. Our preliminary results show marked differences in flower visitor abundance and diversity across solar sites. We discuss potential steps that solar managers can take, such as seeding for pollinators, to not only increase insect abundance, but also promote the ecosystem services of the land through pollination activity.
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