Floral enrichment of turf lawns and its potential benefit for pollinator communities

Turf lawns are a common landscape modification in many anthropogenic habitats, and often the largest

contributor to “green space” in urban landscapes. While typically characterized as a monoculture, they

are frequently host to many “weeds” that serve as foraging resources for pollinating insects. In this talk

we will outline the research we have undertaken to investigate different types of forbs ability to

establish and bloom in a variety of Turf Lawns, as well as begin to characterize the effects of “flowering

lawns” on urban bee communities. By combining our agronomic studies with investigations into

pollinator community composition and response, we hope to demonstrate how florally enriched lawns

can serve as a legitimate conservation tool in a variety of urban areas.