Mapping Right-of-way Pollinator Habitats

Keywords: GIS, pollinators, land use
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 27

Abstract

Pollinators are essential to the survival of ecosystems around the globe. Bees, butterflies, beetles, and more contribute to the pollination of the world’s vegetation and food crops. Without these pollinators, animals and humans alike would lose their food supply rapidly. The problem we face, is that with urban development pollinators’ habitats are being destroyed. Since the mid-twentieth century, 90% of the grassland ranges in the Southeast have disappeared due to construction and agricultural processes.

Utility companies can provide land to serve as new stable habitats for pollinators. The right-of-way for power lines can supply large swaths of land to reclaim habitats where pollinators will be safe from urban development. The key is to find a method for utility companies to maintain the safety of the right-of-way to deliver power services without disturbing the new habitat. One proposed solution is the application of an herbicide treatment that directly targets undesirable tree species that damage powerlines without harming desirable native wildflower and grass species.

To test the efficacy of the herbicide treatment, we propose to use scorecards, drone data, and audio recordings to observe the return and development of pollinator habitats and measure change in undesirable and desirable species in rural North Georgia from October 2020 to the present. The project is based in Ringgold, GA with three study sites and a control. The data collected is then analyzed using ArcGIS Online to explore the role pollinators play in place and the usefulness of the development of their habitats along a rights-of-way.