Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

Declining bee populations may be a strong signal that the agricultural industry needs to look at wildlife habitat in a new way, say industry leaders. “The reduction in bee populations, valued for their roles as pollinators, across North America and the concerns about their habitat are examples of how the loss of one key element in the ecosystem can have a far-reaching impact that filters down to producers’ own bottom lines,” says Kim Schmitt, director of Natural Advantage, a planning service which helps Alberta farmers and ranchers manage wildlife habitat resources on their operations. “Farmers tend to think in terms of the bottom line and any discussion of natural habitat value to cropping systems may seem theoretical. However, a big question is the level of risk we are assuming by not proactively conserving natural areas and remnant vegetation in the agricultural landscape. For example, how much do we really know about the relationship between remnant habitats, insects and agricultural production?” Although there are few straightforward answers to that question, there are some key things we do know, says Dan Johnson, a professor of environmental science at the University of Lethbridge and a prominent researcher in the field of sustainable grassland ecosystems. We know, for example, that remnant areas are not the detriment to crop production that they have often been thought to be. At the same time, managing them is a challenge that may not be met by conventional thinking. “Nature is variable, quite messy, and more wired together than highly balanced,” says Johnson. “But we’re seeing that if we can identify some general patterns, there may be some rules of thumb that can be used for telling pests from non-pests, getting the most from the beneficial species, and for managing remnant areas, not only for sustainability, but for the real economic benefits that they can provide.” There are some strong but highly variable relationships geographically and year-by-year between remnant habitats and insects, says Johnson. Despite some popular misconceptions, however, their value is more often positive than negative. “In general, it’s been found that, more often than harbouring pests, natural vegetation will harbour the natural enemies of pests – for example, spiders or tiny wasps that attack the eggs of pest species,” he says. However, when producers see large populations of grasshoppers in the field, remnant vegetation areas such as shelterbelts or “unimproved” pastures are often singled out as the source. Johnson says the question is whether the grasshoppers the farmer is seeing are pests, as not all grasshopper species consume crops to the same extent, or even at all. “Some people say grasshoppers hide out in remnant areas and then come back, and this can happen in rare years. But in most cases, the grasshoppers they see in remnant areas are rarely the pest species. In fact, many of the grasshopper species found in remnants and shelterbelts do no damage and simply support birds and the parasites and diseases that attack insects, and these natural enemies may even offer some help when the pests return. But granted, in a rare outbreak year, pests may be everywhere,” says Johnson.

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