Hello!
This is a map I made using ArcGIS (Geographic Information Systems) that pushes for bee pollinator habitats in New York City using current green spaces from Community Gardens and Constructed Green Infrastructure.
Why Bees?
Animal pollination service is critical for sustaining ecosystem health and human well-being. Globally, about one-third of crop production depends on animal pollination, an estimated economic value of $15 billion annually.
Why Green Cover?
However, there has been recent bee colony decline, often due to parasites, diseases, agro-chemical use, forage availability, and especially land-use change. In 2013−2014, total US honey bee colony losses were 34% and beekeepers on average lost 51% of their colonies, putting significant pressure on global food supplies, plant–pollinator networks, agricultural producers, and ecosystem function.
Why Community Gardens and Constructed Green Infrastructure?
As a result, I decided to focus on land uses in New York City which already had available green spaces that could be potential sites for bee habitats.
Community Garden: is neighborhood space designed, developed, or managed by local residents on vacant land, possibly including viewing gardens, play areas, and community gardens (Lee and Francis 1).
Constructed Green Infrastructure: New York City’s Green Infrastructure Program is a multiagency effort led by the Department of Environmental Protection. DEP and agency partners design, construct and maintain a variety of sustainable green infrastructure practices such as green roofs and rain gardens on City owned property such as streets, sidewalks, schools, and public housing. Green infrastructure promotes the natural movement of water by collecting and managing stormwater runoff from streets, sidewalks, parking lots and rooftops and directing it to engineered systems that typically feature soils, stones, and vegetation.
I chose these spaces because Community Gardens and Green Infrastructure often already have land cover, vegetation, and flowers for bees to pollinate.
However, to narrow it down, I quantified the amount of green cover (tree canopy, land & bush) area in Community Gardens. I ranked the green cover from highest (green) to lowest (red) (See Legend). I did not do a ranking for Constructed Green Infrastructure as vegetation and land cover can be easier to implement.
Why All the Circles?
I placed a 1.6-km (∼1.0 mile) buffer (2 mile circumference) around each points location as bees usually travel that far for food and to minimize colony competition for floral resources.
I combined & intersected the circles/buffer from Community Gardens with the highest green cover (green points) and Constructed Green Infrastructure in order to highlight the best suitable sites for bee pollination habitats.
Conclusion:
I found that the best suitable sites are in Brooklyn, the Lower East Side, and the Bronx, suggesting that New York City needs to utilize those areas and start creating habitats for bees and a healthier ecosystem.
Additional Factors:
There are still additional factors that need to be considered when creating suitable sites for bee habitats (see later), but this is an introduction to how New York City already has available resources and infrastructure that can be further utilized to improve the city's resilience and sustainability.
• Soil Drainability: most ground/soil-dwelling bees nest in bare or partially vegetated, well-drained soil • Aspect: most native bees thrive in sun and dry soils, preferring south facing slopes to slopes of other aspects
• Environmental Corridor: are usually landscapes with better natural preservation and less human interventions, which are suited for native pollinators.
• Vegetation Cover: a diversity of plants with different flower colors, sizes, and shapes, varying plant heights... can benefit the greatest numbers and diversity of pollinators
• Water Proximity: water is needed not only to maintain cellular balance in adult bees, but to feed brood and maintain the hive temperature on hot days
• Pesticide Use: are derimental to a healthy community of native pollinators
Bibliography:
ArcGIS Green Infrastructure Program Map.
Clint R. V. Otto, Cali L. Roth, Benjamin L. Carlson, Matthew D.Smart (2016). Land-use impacts on honey bees in the Great Plains, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2016, 113 (37) 10430-10435.
Data of City of New York, Greenthumb Community Gardens (2017).
Gallant AL, Euliss NH Jr, Browning Z (2014) Mapping Large-Area Landscape Suitability for Honey Bees to Assess the Influence of Land-Use Change on Sustainability of National Pollination Services. PLoS ONE 9(6): e99268.
Stephanie R Rogers & Benno Staub (2013), Standard use of Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques in honey bee research, Journal of Apicultural Research, 52:4, 1-48.
Tian, Beichen (2016), Suitability Evaluation and Neighborhood Design for Pollinator Habitat, City of Madison, Wisconsin A Plan for Healthy and Pollinator-Friendly Urban Community, Department of Urban and Regional Planning University of Wisconsin Madison.