Pollinator Abundance at Solar Farms in Alberta, Canada
2024
Urbanczyk-Gallo, Alannah | Newman, Lenore
Solar farms within the Alberta, Canada agricultural landscape could function as sources of essential pollinator habitat to support pollinator abundance. Some solar farms opt for a vegetated substrate beneath solar panels and target mowing to beneath panels. Edges of solar sites experience less frequent vegetation control which could create an edge effect and influence how bees assemble within a solar site. Four solar farms in Alberta, Canada were sampled using pan and vane traps to collect bee abundance data along transects at three distances from site edge. Bees caught were identified to species and sites were evaluated for their capacity to support bee abundance. Results showed that depth did not have as strong influence on bee abundance, and rather site-to-site variation was more influential. Regardless of vegetation management techniques are used, solar sites in Alberta still appear to provide some measure of habitat and support pollinator abundance.
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