What’s better than saving the planet? Someone else saving the planet. Davis & Stoyko have surveyed residents of Ohio to gauge their attitude to pollinator-friendly plants. They found that most homeowners were unwilling to add pollinator-friendly native plants as they were seen as untidy. This reluctance matters because residential gardens could provide important food and shelter for pollinators like bees and butterflies.
Researchers selected 200 random properties in two Ohio counties along gradients of property size and value. They then sent out surveys asking about yard management and willingness to plant specific pollinator-friendly plants. The response rate was good, 57%, which indicates interest in the topic, but when they analysed responses using statistical models, some of the results were unfortunate.
Davis & Stoyko found that only about 20% of homeowners said they would plant purple coneflower or wildflowers, and just 8.5% would plant milkweed. However, there was some good news, people who already had these plants were much more likely to want to add more. The biggest factor predicting a resident’s unwillingness to add native plants was their desire for a neat yard.
The research aligns with previous studies that have shown yard choices are strongly influenced by neighbourhood norms and social pressure. This is an issue as gardens can significantly help pollinators given their large total area in urban regions. Making yards more pollinator-friendly requires understanding what motivates homeowners’ decisions, and may require giving them a sense of ownership over their conservation choices.
Davis, A.Y. & Stoyko, J. 2024. Determinants of willingness to add pollinator beneficial plants to residential yards differ by plant type. Journal of Environmental Management 370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122852 ($)
