How Pollinator Gardens Fight Climate Change
By Alyssa Ford
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing Minnesota. According to a 2021 report published by The Nature Conservancy, Minnesota’s average temperature has increased 2.9 degrees over the past century. Minnesota has seen an average increase of 3.4 inches of precipitation over the past century. Streams in the Twin Cities metro increasingly show higher water temperatures over time. Ice-in is delayed, ice-out occurs earlier. By 2018, Minnesota rivers saw about 10 fewer days of ice than in 1930.
All of these changes affect wildlife and plant life. Northern conifers such as tamarack, spruces, fir and pine are experiencing unprecedented insect damage. Northern mammal species are moving away from the state; loons are likely to move out of Minnesota before the end of the 21st century.
The good news is: Planting a pollinator garden is a natural climate solution, or an action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon. According to a 2021 study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota, levels of carbon sequestration tripled when retired Minnesota farmland was converted to pollinator-friendly prairie. According to Andrew MacDougall, biology professor at the University of Guelph, Ontario, restored prairie landscapes grow long roots to capture nutrients deep in the soil. The initial process takes three to five years. After that, carbon storage in the soil starts to accumulate. Part of professor MacDougall’s mission is to track exactly how much carbon is sequestered each year after a piece of land is converted to pollinator habitat.
The trendy new phrase for all of this is carbon gardening, and if you’ve planted on behalf of pollinators – with native grasses and deep-rooted native flowers – you’re a part of it!
For more information about creating pollinator habitat with native plants, register for the free Resilient Yards online learning series presented by Blue Thumb – Planting for Clean Water.
Writer Alyssa Ford is a pollinator-supporting Minneapolis resident who has converted her lawn to pollinator habitat.