Alabama Power encouraging
heahy habats through
pollinator plots
By Dennis Washington
Months of hard work is starting to pay off at Alabama
Power's pollinator plots as new flowers have appeared,
attracting thousands of pollinators necessary for healthy
and productive native and agricultural ecosystems.
Josh Yerby heads the pollinator project for the
company's recreation group. He said seeds planted at the
plots in 2019 are now blooming.
"We have worked with a company called Roundstone
Native Seed to develop a specific seed blend for this
soil type and habitat type," Yerby said. "ere's many
species of flowers blooming and all native to this area.
ere's many pollinators out here on these flowers taking
advantage of it."
Bees pollinate a majority of the world's plants, but
butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds, lizards
and bats are all pollinators that plants depend on.
Yerby said much of the food we eat depends on these
pollinators having places to work.
"Most plants cannot produce fruit or even seeds
unless they are pollinated," Yerby said. "Pollination is an
important part of a plant's life cycle and for us, too, because
much of the food we eat is the result of pollinators."
Yerby said Alabama Power began developing pollinator
plots aer noticing a general decline in pollinator
populations across the country. He said some of the
company's 65 recreation sites were quickly identified as
ideal locations, including two 1-acre plots at Little Fox
Creek Preserve on the Lake Harris Reservoir. Yerby said
an average of 100 people visit those plots every weekend.
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