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Kelly Garbach, Tania Schusler, and Ping Jing,
Loyola University Chicago
Dustin Herrmann, University of California-Davis
Abstract: This case study focuses on services
provided by pollinators to an urban garden in Chicago. It integrates
considerations of the social, biological and physical elements of urban
ecosystems as well as urban agriculture, and students will elaborate these relationships
and critical links by developing and refining a concept map. The case study
encourages student inquiry about pollinators native to IL and the Great Lakes
Region, as well as similarities and differences with managed Honey bees.
Students will learn about pollination as an ecosystem service (and elaborate on
bees as mobile ecosystem service providers at advanced levels). The case also
incorporates elements on climate change and outcomes for pollinator activity
and conservation. It concludes with stakeholder identification, evaluation, and
a synthesis paper.
Topical areas: Environmental
science, ecology, conservation biology, urban sustainability, climate change
Educational level: Introductory
undergraduate courses; Upper level undergraduate or graduate courses with
modifications
Type/method: Problem-based
learning (entire case), Interrupted case (specific class sessions)
Time required: Designed to occur
over 3-4 hours in class with related reading and other assignments to be
completed by students out of class
This case addresses the following Socio-Environmental Synthesis learning
goals:
● Ability to describe a socio-environmental system, including the
environmental and social components and their interactions.
○ Activities: brainstorm system elements, draft a concept/system map,
research and report on focal pollinators
● Ability to consider the importance of scale in addressing
socio-environmental problems.
○ Activities: analysis of stakeholders and strategies for intervening in
system to create change supporting native pollinators; write a synthesis paper
including recommendations
Learning Objectives: As a result of
completing the activities in this case study, students will be able to:
● Describe a socio-ecological system, including the environmental and social
components and their interactions.
○ Define ecosystem services and explain that pollination is a supporting
service, pollinators (in this case native bees) are the service provider,
plants are the direct beneficiary, and people and other wildlife are the
indirect beneficiaries.
○ Describe how human activities have caused decline of native bee
populations: habitat loss, pesticide use.
○ Explain potential impacts of climate change on pollination and discuss
implications for pollination in urban food production.
○ Create a visual diagram/concept map of this socio-ecological system.
○ Identify stakeholders in pollinator conservation.
○ Identify individual and collective actions to conserve and increase
pollinators in the Chicago region.
● Consider the importance of scale in addressing socio-environmental
problems.
○ Describe interactions between people and pollinators across geographic
and temporal scales, and explain nestedness (i.e., a backyard nested in a
neighborhood nested in the city nested in the region)
Introduction/Background: This case was
developed for a 100-level environmental science course for predominantly
non-majors. It is suitable for introductory courses in environmental studies,
ecology, conservation biology, or urban sustainability and could be modified
for upper level courses. The case begins with the story of an urban garden
manager who is puzzled by a poor squash harvest. This leads to discussions on the
importance of pollinators for ecosystems and human society.
Classroom Management: The case is
designed to occur over three class periods, which we refer to as “blocks.”
Classroom management notes are provided below for each of the three blocks.
BLOCK ONE
The following class management notes accompany the
Power Point, in-class activities, and bee research assignment in Block One (B1).
Prior to class, students should read the Preface and Chapter 1 from Attracting Native Pollinators by The
Xerces Society.
●
Present the focal
garden, Uncommon Ground. Encourage the class to discuss
challenges/opportunities they perceive for growers in an urban environment.
●
Talk through
Guiding Question 1: What are the biotic and abiotic resources needed for
producing food in an urban environment? Do these have management considerations
that are similar/different from considerations in rural farms?
Notes: students should think about the following abiotic factors at a
minimum:
Soil, light,
water, temperature
Soil and water considerations: soil may need to be collected and transported from another location
(especially if we’re talking about created garden beds on a hard surface, such
as the rooftop garden in our focal garden). Advanced students may also note
that soil formation and nutrient cycling processes are not likely to occur
naturally, and must be “engineered” by the managers of the agroecosystem. Water
also needs to brought in: main choices are municipal water (e.g., standard hose
& sprinklers) and rainwater capture. Rainwater can be a good option, but
filtering is often needed and if stored for longer periods of time, limiting
growth of bacteria/ potential pathogens is a key consideration.
Light and temperature considerations: light intensity and availability will vary seasonally; shade from
other buildings is often an important consideration in the city for garden
placement (e.g., plants in beds placed in full shade may not thrive).
Sun-loving plants like tomatoes, should be placed in beds that get the most
light; plants that are tolerant of cooler temps and some shade can be placed
elsewhere.
Biotic factors to consider:
Humans, plants we select, all the fauna associated with plants:
including beneficial insects, like bees that provide pollination, as well as
organisms that can act as pests, including herbivores that graze on plants as
well as the web of their natural enemies (e.g., parasites and predators).
Humans (and our pets!) can also play the role of pests in an urban environment,
if we harvest crops uninvited, or contaminate growing areas with trash or other
wastes.
Activity1: Students sit in groups of 2-3 to discuss Guiding Questions, and write
down notes on the Guiding Questions. Remind students to write legibly, as these
responses will be turned in at the end of the class meeting.
The instructor may also consider filling in the slide as students
brainstorm (with an intro-level class). These responses will create a bank of
ideas to draw upon in the concept map in Activity 2.
●
Talk through
Guiding Question 2: Pollinators were among the important biotic factors in our
agroecosystem. How do growers determine the importance of pollination on their
garden or farm? Hint: What crops are being grown? Which depend on pollinators?
Notes: This may be a good time to review some highlights of the
pollination chapter from Xerces Society (which students read prior to
class)—Key highlights include that about 70% of our staple crops require insect
pollination, and that 1 in every 3 mouthfuls of food and drink is pollinated by
bees. Students should have captured that honey bees are an important part of
this equation, and that European honey bees are an introduced species that’s
placed in hives and managed near crops. There are also a number of bee species
that are native to IL (this will be further developed in the Bee Research and
Reporting Assignment).
●
Talk through developing
a concept map—
Describe the key elements of the social, biological and physical elements in our case study on Chicago pollinators. Create a visual representation on how they fit together, and their key interactions.
Describe the key elements of the social, biological and physical elements in our case study on Chicago pollinators. Create a visual representation on how they fit together, and their key interactions.
Notes: We’ve discussed important elements of the social, biological and
physical elements in our case study on pollinators in Chicago. Your task is
draw out how these elements fit together, as well as key interactions. Make
sure your drawing is clear and well-labeled, and includes your name so that you
can turn in your concept map at the end of class.
This poster on the slide was created by the pollinator partnership,
(Pollinator Partnership: www.pollinator.org ) and it has some elements of how social, and biological elements
relate to one another (Note: there’s not much going on here for the physical
environment). Instructor may want to emphasize that this approach needs more
detail to be an appropriate concept map for a class output.
●
This second
concept map describes major categories discussed in relation to resource
governance in social-ecological systems, found on www.sciencedirect.com. Highlight that students may want to consider including the social,
ecological and physical systems as the major categories in their concept maps.
Then these categories will need an additional level of detail, that describes
the key elements included in each. As the concept map progresses, students
should be thinking about how the key elements interact. This can be represented
visually with arrows—and students should be able to describe what each of the
arrows represents. This is something that students have seen before with food
webs.
●
Activity 2: Have students
work in groups of 3 to draw concept maps (a sheet is included in page 3 of the
student handout). This should take about 15-20mins. Encourage students to
discuss with one another, and raise questions to share with the broader group.
Remind students that this draft will be turned in at the end of class, and the
whole team (class) will revisit their drafts in Blocks 2, 3 of this case study.
●
Transition to
talking about bee research and reporting assignment. Introduce the focal bee
species with visuals, and then distribute and talk through assignment:
As an early career environmental scientist, you’ve
been tasked with researching bees in the Chicago area as part of a case study
on urban agriculture and pollinator conservation. There are excellent resources
at your disposal through the following partner organizations:
●
University of
Illinois Chicago: http://atlas.las.uic.edu/atlas/2011/12/studying-bee-pollinators-to-aid-urban-agriculture
In addition to exploring around and using these
resources, highlight that these links are starting points; it’s very important
to follow up with other pages and explore beyond the suggested “landing page.”
Note that students need to identify and suggest at least two
additional/original resources as they research and report on the five focal bee
species. Resources can be books, articles, or online resources. Instructors may
wish to specify a citation style for students to use.
Conclude Block One (B1) with the following next
steps:
Turn in at the end of class:
●
Turn in your notes
on the guiding questions (handout)
●
Draft Concept map
For next time:
●
Research on pollinators completed and ready to turn in at the start of
class. This includes details for each focal pollinator, as well as
recommendations for at least two additional/original resources.
BLOCK TWO
In Block Two (B2),
students are asked to discuss in groups the impact of climate change on
pollinators, such as bees. Using their understanding of the important ecosystem
services provided by pollinators, students also discuss the consequent impacts
on farmers. A PowerPoint document accompanies this Block.
1. Introduction (5
minutes)
Describe to
students that spring in the Rocky Mountains now arrives earlier, as indicated
by earlier snowmelt in the Rockies. Ask the students the guiding question, What
may have caused the spring snowmelt to occur earlier? The instructor can use a
few minutes to generally explain how human activities (such as burning fossil
fuels and deforestation) have caused the enhanced greenhouse effect and
therefore contributed to global climate change.
2. Have students
gather into the same groups they worked in Block One. Inform the students that
each group should submit one copy of their answers to the questions in the
handout in writing.
3. Give students
the handout, “Bee” Confused by Climate
Change. Show the second PowerPoint slide of this Block.
4. Students read
the story. (5 minutes)
5. Students discuss
the questions in the handout. Remind them to write down their answers. (20
minutes)
BLOCK THREE
“What can we do to conserve
and increase pollinators in our city?”
In Block Three
(B3), students are asked to identify actions that can be taken to conserve
pollinators at three scales: site, neighborhood, and region. Using their system
map generated earlier, students identify opportunities for intervening in the
system to create changes intended to conserve or increase pollinators in the
city. As they move from the site to larger geographic scales, they (1)
recognize the nestedness of systems, and (2) realize the need to work with
other stakeholders in order to have impact beyond the site scale. Students then
learn how to conduct a stakeholder analysis, identify strategies for involving
other stakeholders, and assess the likely effectiveness of proposed actions at
these three geographic scales in the short- and long-term (bringing in the
concept of temporal scale). Block 3 concludes with an out-of-class assignment
for students to produce a written proposal explaining their assessment of the
opportunities to intervene in the system and recommendations for actions to
conserve and increase pollinators.
The block consists
of 2 parts:
3.1 - Site Scale: Uncommon Ground (30
minutes)
- Have students gather into the same groups they worked in for the prior blocks.
- Inform students that they will need to use today’s work in class for the individual paper assignment; thus, each student should take notes for reference outside of class.
- Ask students to read the next portion of Jen’s story and follow instructions in the student handout. (15 minutes)
a. Instructions to students:
- Using the research you did outside of class on native pollinators, develop a list of recommendations for Jen based on your knowledge of what crops each bee pollinates, its habitat preferences, and foraging distances. Each group will turn in one copy of its recommendations at the end of class. Be sure to include the following:
i.
Target pollinator (i.e., which bee?)
ii.
Actions Jen can take to conserve or increase this pollinator’s presence
in the garden
iii.
Rationale for why these actions makes sense based on what you know about
this pollinator
- As a group discuss:
i.
Will these actions be sufficient to reach Jen’s goal of increasing
pollinators in the garden? Why or why not? Reference your system map to answer
these questions.
- Ask students to report out from discussion of final question. Have all groups report at once by writing their answer - Yes or No - on a piece of paper and showing it for all to see. Then discuss as a full class why students responded as they did. Students might explain, for example, that Jen manages only a small area of garden space and could have greater impact on pollinator populations through management over a larger area of land. Or they might suggest that Jen can grow as many plants as possible to attract pollinators, but if others in her neighborhood are using pesticides (e.g., on lawns, golf courses) that harm bees, then her efforts might not succeed. Emphasize the concepts of systems, nestedness, and scale. (5 minutes)
- Introduce concept of “stakeholder” and procedure for “stakeholder analysis” using the lecture slides and speaking notes provided (“BeeCase_B3_ClassPowerPoint_Stakeholder Analysis.pptx”). (10 minutes)
3.2 - Larger Scales: Rogers Park
Neighborhood and Chicago Region (45 minutes)
1. In their groups, students conduct a
stakeholder analysis. Designate half of the groups to focus on the neighborhood
scale (Rogers Park) and the other half to focus on the regional scale. Hand out
a Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet to each student, which he or she should take
notes on for later reference. Each group should also reproduce the chart on
chalkboard, white board, or newsprint large enough for full class to see and
record their work there. (5 minutes)
2.
Students articulate the goal(s), identify stakeholders, estimate
attitudes and influence, determine level of confidence in these estimates, and
develop strategies for involving priority stakeholders. Encourage students to
reference their system maps in identifying stakeholders and strategies/actions.
(15 minutes)
3.
Post all group’s completed work simultaneously and allow ~2 minutes for
students to review all charts. Then discuss as a full class. Encourage students
to add details on their individual worksheets based on other group’s charts and
this discussion. Multiple groups likely will have identified some similar
stakeholders and strategies. Begin discussion with the far left column, Stakeholders,
and focus on differences between groups. For example, if one student group
identified community gardeners (or local schools or the Alderperson) as a
stakeholder in the neighborhood and other groups did not, ask whether other
groups overlooked this stakeholder or did not think that it constitutes a
stakeholder in pollinator conservation. Then move the discussion’s focus to the
far right column, Strategies, and ask a group to explain why they proposed a
specific strategy. In providing their logic or rationale, students should
reference their columns estimating Attitude and Influence. Examples of
strategies include coordinated management (e.g., multiple community gardens
growing plants to attract pollinators), education (e.g., outreach to other
gardeners and land managers), planning (e.g., city plans for natural areas and
open space), land use (e.g., protecting and restoring native habitats), or
advocating for policy changes (e.g., restrictions on pesticides). Ask if other
groups agree/disagree with their assessment, why or why not, etc. Finally, ask
students for their opinions regarding the likely impact of different
strategies. Which are most likely to succeed in the short-term? Over the
long-term? Why? Emphasize that different strategies are needed over different
temporal scales. (15 minutes)
4.
Wrap up the discussion by reiterating key ideas: concept of scale,
nestedness of systems, definition of stakeholder, process of stakeholder
analysis (5 minutes)
5. Provide instructions
(“BeeCase_B3_Student Paper Assignment.docx”) for assignment to write a proposal
with recommendations for Jen. This assignment is to be completed by each
individual student outside of class and due in 1 week. (5 minutes)
References:
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation
International Pollinator’s Initiative,
Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations
BeeSpotter, University of Illinois
(citizen science project)
U.S. Climate Change Research Program
(2009), Climate Change in the Midwest, http://nca2009.globalchange.gov/midwest
Dick, B.
1997. Stakeholder Analysis [Online].
Available at http://www.uq.net.au/action_research/arp/stake.html.
Forrest and Thomson (2011), An
examination of synchrony between insect emergence and flowering in Rocky Mountain
meadows, Ecological Monographs, 81(3), 2011, pp. 469–491.
McKinney and Inouye (2012), Phenology
of species interactions in response to climate change: two case studies of
plant-pollinator interactions using long-term data, 2012 Fall Meeting, AGU, San
Francisco, CA, 3-7 Dec.
Spivak, M., Mader, E., Vaughan, M., and
Euliss, Jr., N. H. 2011. The plight of the bees. Environmental Science and Technology 45:34-38.
Steltzer et al. (2012), When Snow Melts
Early: The Unusual Alpine Plant Life Histories During the Summer of 2012, 2012
Fall Meeting AGU, San Francisco, CA 3-7 Dec.
Xerces Society (2011), Attracting Native Pollinators: Protecting
America’s Bees and Butterflies. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.
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