THE POLLINATOR STUDY:
Groundcover Diversity and Flowering
Groundcover Biodiversity
Among the six study sites, there are more than 75 different species of plants in the groundcovers. Each individual block had anywhere from 21 to 37 different species through the summer and fall. More will no doubt become apparent in the spring.
Many plants are common among several sites. Others were only found at one site. The following is a list of the plants identified so far.
- Plants found at all six locations: False dandelion, fleabane, several goldenrod species, horseweed, Queen Anne’s lace, red clover, white clover, wood sorrel.
- Plants found at five locations: Dandelion, milkweed, nightshade, oxeye daisy, poison ivy.
- Plants found at four locations: Giant ragweed, lambsquarter, primrose, pokeweed.
- Plants found at three locations: Several species of aster, bindweed, black-eyed Susan, multifloral rose, nettle, pepperweed, plantain, smartweed, tall fescue, violets, yarrow (white).
- Plants found at two locations: Barnyard grass, Canadian thistle, crabgrass, creeping bedstraw, dock, false Indian strawberry, foxtail, mullen, Spanish nettle, trefoil, Virginia creeper, wild geranium, wingstem.
- Plants found at one location: Asiatic dayflower, black mustard, bittersweet, briars, burmuda grass, buttercup, catbriar, chickweed, chickory, clemantis, cocklebur, crown vetch, feather grass, fine fescue, hempdogbane, hogpeanut, honeysuckle, ironweed, Joe Pye weed, horsenettle, orchardgrass, pineappleweed, pigweed, sheep sorrel, smilax, spurge, sunflower, sumac, wild garlic, wild mustard.
Groundcover Flowering
At each of the location and sample dates, there was anywhere from 1 to 13 different species of plants blooming with an average of 7.7 species flowering. The percentage of groundcover with blooming plants in it ranged from 1 to over 100% with an average of 45%.
Flowering varied greatly between sites and from visit to visit at the same site. The following series of photographs depict the changes that toke place at one site through time where no herbicide was applied and no mowing occurred.
This variation is also illustrated graphically. Each line represents a different farm.
What flowers were blooming varied greatly from visit to visit. Some of this was natural. As the season progressed from summer into fall, plants such as goldenrod, wingstem, and asters became more important. Some flowers such as red clover, false dandelion, or yarrow were almost always blooming, though typically only at 1 to 5% of the groundcover had these plants.
By far the plant that was the most important bloomer was white clover. This plant made up a significant portion of the groundcover at most sites, but it wasn’t always blooming. White clover flowering was diminished either from herbicide application, dry weather, or natural blooming cycles. These cycles were not similar between sites. The following graph depicts the changes in white clover blooming, and again each line represents a different farm.
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