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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1: Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27062.
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Page 1
Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1: Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27062.
×
Page 2
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1: Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27062.
×
Page 3
Page 4
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1: Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27062.
×
Page 4
Page 5
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1: Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27062.
×
Page 5
Page 6
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1: Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/27062.
×
Page 6

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1-1 Chapter 1 Introduction Animal pollinators are central to human wellbeing, agricultural production, global economic health, and the viability of native plant communities and wildlife. Thirty-five percent of global crop production is dependent on pollinators, including 87 of the world’s 124 most commonly cultivated crops (Klein et al. 2007). Also, many minerals, vitamins, and nutrients needed to maintain human health come from insect-pollinated crops (Eilers et al. 2011). Pollinators are essential for the reproduction of about 85 percent of all flowering plants (Ollerton et al. 2011) and are critical for wildlife food webs (Kearns et al. 1998; Summerville and Crist 2002). Insects, including bees, wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies, and moths, are the primary pollinators in much of North America (Allen-Wardell et al. 1998; Kearns 2001), yet a number of insect pollinators are in decline. Pollinators that have undergone troubling and dramatic declines over the past few decades include rare species with narrow habitat needs, as well as formerly common and widespread species like the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) and the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) (Hatfield et al. 2016; Semmens et al. 2016; Schultz et al. 2017). Factors leading to pollinator decline include habitat loss, pesticide use, diseases, parasites, climate change, and the spread of invasive species. 1.1 Why Roadsides Are Important to Pollinators  Threats to pollinators may have profound consequences for ecosystem health as well as our food systems (Kearns et al. 1998; Spira 2001; Steffan-Dewenter and Westphal 2008). Roadsides can help mitigate habitat loss for pollinators. State departments of transportation (DOTs) manage substantial amounts of land and associated natural resources across North America, including upward of 10 million acres of roadside land in the United States (Forman et al. 2003). These acres hold the potential to create a network of habitats to support pollinators in urban and rural areas. Roadsides can provide habitat for all life stages of a diverse community of pollinators (Hopwood et al. 2015), including imperiled pollinators. Roadsides may also act as corridors for pollinators (see review in Hopwood et al. 2015), connecting remnant habitat patches and aiding pollinators to move through landscapes or expand their ranges. Mining bees—such as this bee visiting an apple blossom—and other wild pollinators are critical for food production. Photo Credit: Nancy Lee Adamson/Xerces Society

Chapter 1. Introduction  1-2 In some places, roadsides are home to intact native plant communities that are no longer found in surrounding lands (New et al. 2021). Searching for prairie remnants in some parts of the Corn Belt in the Midwest, for example, often requires scouring roadsides and railroad rights-of-way. In heavily altered landscapes, even those roadsides without intact native plant communities can be the only semi-natural habitat present (e.g., Brown and Sawyer 2012). For some listed or imperiled species of pollinators, roadsides include some of the last remaining patches of their habitat. Widespread species that are struggling, such as the monarch butterfly or the rusty patched bumble bee, are not completely reliant on roadsides habitat, but roadsides are still an important component of their survival (e.g., Thogmartin et al. 2017; Evans et al. 2019). A number of state DOTs have an interest in managing roadsides to support pollinators (e.g., Hopwood et al. 2016b; National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 25-59 Conduct of Research Report), but as more species of pollinators become listed or are being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), DOTs also want regulatory certainty. Currently (March 2022), there are 48 pollinating insects listed under the federal ESA (nine bees, 35 butterflies, two moths, one fly, and one beetle). This includes two species that are either a candidate species or proposed for listing, and many more species with declining populations and the potential to be listed. Figure 1- 1 shows the number of species that are currently listed or a candidate for listing by region. Figure 1-1. Map of the United States, with the number of pollinator species that are currently listed or candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (as of March 2022) within each of the 16 regions covered in these guides.  Alaska: 0  Maritime Northwest: 5  Inland Northwest: 1  Hawaii: 8  California: 2  Great Basin: 2   Southwest: 2  Rocky Mountains: 3  Northern Plains: 4  Southern Plains: 1  Midwest: 4  Great Lakes: 5   Southeast: 3   Florida: 8  Mid‐Atlantic: 4  Northeast: 3 Roadsides provide monarch butterflies with food for adults as well as caterpillars. Photo Credit: John Anderson 0 5 1 2 2 2 1 43 4 5 3 8 4 3 8 GUIDE REGIONS

Chapter 1. Introduction  1-3 In addition to supporting pollinators, other benefits of healthy roadside vegetation include a safe driving environment, reduced soil erosion, enhanced rainwater infiltration, improved water quality, reduced wind velocity, carbon sequestration, and habitat for a variety of wildlife, including predator and parasitoid insects that reduce crop pests. 1.2 About This Guide  This guide is intended to provide relevant guidance to rights-of- way owners and operators for roadside vegetation management practices that support pollinators, as well as strategies that are compliant with the ESA. This guide will help DOTs and other entities that manage roadsides understand pollinators generally and imperiled pollinators specifically, and it provides information on how to manage roadsides with the goal of avoiding further declines of these important species, averting the need for them to be listed under the ESA in the future. This guide will also help DOTs make informed management decisions to coordinate ESA compliance with their operations, reduce future regulatory uncertainty, contribute to pollinator conservation and recovery, and increase awareness and the associated societal values for the ecosystem services pollinators provide for agriculture and native ecosystems alike. This guide is one of 16 guides, one for each region identified based on ecoregions and distributions of pollinators (Figure 1-1). Each guide includes general information applicable across all 50 states as well as region-specific information developed for the habitats and pollinator species expected to occur in and adjacent to roadways of this region. The intended users of this guide are staff from transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance, and environmental disciplines, as well as communication staff. This guide was informed by review of scientific literature, research reports, and other relevant information, including input from transportation agency practitioners and researchers with expertise on imperiled pollinator species or roadside restoration. This input was obtained through detailed online surveys sent to leading pollinator and roadside revegetation researchers from across the United States and to DOT staff from around the country. Experts were asked to identify the relative benefit of specific conservation actions for imperiled pollinators and provide input on the opportunities for DOTs to implement practices that support pollinators. Participants included researchers from universities, state agencies, consultants, and non-governmental organizations. DOT staff were asked about current practices and potential barriers to implementing additional conservation measures. In total, 70 transportation professionals from DOTs representing agencies from 33 states responded, with 47 percent of respondents self-identifying their expertise within their agency as “Environmental,” 27 percent as “Maintenance,” 13 percent as “Landscape Architecture,” 3 percent as “Construction,” 1 percent as “Planning,” and 9 percent as “Other.” Listed species: A species listed as  endangered or threatened under the  federal ESA; the species has been  determined to be in danger of  extinction in the near or foreseeable  future by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife  Service.   Candidate species: A species that  has been found warranted for listing  under the ESA, but whose listing is  precluded by higher‐priority species.  Proposed species: A species that has  been proposed for listing as  threatened or endangered under the  ESA.  Petitioned species: A species for  which a petition to list the species  under the ESA has been received and  is being evaluated.  Imperiled species: A species that is in  decline and may be in danger of  extinction. This term includes  species that are not legally protected  under the ESA. 

Chapter 1. Introduction  1-4 This guide includes eleven chapters, some of which have specific audiences and others that may be more broadly of use to transportation officials. Table 1-1 provides an overview of this guide and how it can be used. Table 1-1. Using this guide. Chapter  Contents  Chapter 2, Pollinator Biology and  Roadsides  This chapter includes background information on  pollinator biology, including:    a primer on pollinators and their habitat needs,  pollinator conservation status, and  how pollinators use roadsides. Chapter 3, Imperiled Pollinator  Profiles  This chapter includes profiles of listed, candidate, and  imperiled pollinators in this region. The profiles contain:    life history information,  the current range of distribution within the region,  flight times for adults,  larval activity for management timing for butterflies and moths,  important plants, and  guidance to help integrate a species’ biology into management plans. Chapter 4, Native Pollinators and  the Federal Endangered Species  Act: Compliance Strategies for  State Departments of  Transportation  This chapter provides:    background on the ESA and  information about strategies for compliance as it relates to imperiled pollinators. Chapter 5, Considering Imperiled  Pollinators in Transportation  Planning, Design, and  Construction  This chapter discusses when and how pollinators need to  be considered in the transportation planning, design, and  construction phases of project delivery. It identifies:    opportunities to include pollinator‐friendly design elements and  how project design and construction can incorporate measures to avoid and minimize potential impacts on pollinators.

Chapter 1. Introduction  1-5 Chapter  Contents  Chapter 6, Roadside  Maintenance and Vegetation  Management for Pollinators  This chapter’s audience is maintenance staff, planners, or  those designing revegetation plans. This chapter provides:    an overview of how vegetation management practices affect pollinators and  region‐specific adjustments of practices to better support imperiled pollinators. Chapter 7, Revegetation and  Pollinators: Design and  Implementation  This chapter includes:    a guide on how to support imperiled pollinators through revegetation and  detailed regional plant species lists. Chapter 8, Creating Climate‐ Smart Pollinator Habitat along  Roadsides  This chapter explores ways to increase climate resiliency  for pollinators.  Chapter 9, Surveys, Monitoring  Strategies, and Habitat  Assessments  Surveys can determine the presence of imperiled species,  and monitoring can be used to better understand the  impacts of practices on pollinators. This chapter includes:    survey and monitoring protocols and  habitat assessment tools to evaluate and prioritize habitat enhancement opportunities. Chapter 10, Cost‐Benefit  Considerations for Pollinator  Management on Roadsides  This chapter provides:    step‐by‐step processes to help DOTs make choices about actions that can support imperiled pollinators and  context for balancing the costs of conservation actions with the benefits. Chapter 11, Communication  Support  This chapter includes:    plans for communicating within DOTs as well as with the general public about how individual DOTs are supporting pollinators proactively and  links to videos, recorded presentations, a regional slide set that can be adapted for agencies, and other tools. Chapter 12, References  This chapter includes bibliographic references for materials  cited throughout the document. 

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Transportation agencies can make a difference for imperiled pollinators by managing existing roadside vegetation and designing new revegetation plantings with habitat needs in mind. This can generate public support for the agency and help to mitigate the negative ecological effects of roads.

NCHRP Web-Only Document 362: Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 3: Florida, from TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program, is part of a 16-volume series, with each volume focused on a specific region of the United States, and is intended to provide relevant guidance to rights-of-way owners and operators for roadside vegetation management practices that support pollinators, as well as strategies that are compliant with the federal Endangered Species Act.

Supplemental to the document are a Dataset of Florida Accessory Materials, a Communications Toolbox, a Conduct of Research Report, and a Video.

All the other volumes are available on the webpage for NCHRP Web-Only Document 362: Pollinator Habitat Conservation Along Roadways, Volume 1: Alaska.

The other volumes are:

Volume 1: Alaska

Volume 2: California

Volume 4: Great Basin

Volume 5: Great Lakes

Volume 6: Hawaii

Volume 7: Inland Northwest

Volume 8: Maritime Northwest

Volume 9: Mid-Atlantic

Volume 10: Midwest

Volume 11: Northeast

Volume 12: Northern Plains

Volume 13: Rocky Mountains

Volume 14: Southeast

Volume 15: Southern Plains

Volume 16: Southwest

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