By Amanda M. Kuenzi
A free Zoom lecture, on behalf of the Colorado Native Plant Society, Southwest Chapter, will be “Native Plants and Native Pollinators: Mutualisms and More” by Kaitlin Haase, southwest pollinator conservation specialist, Xerces Society — tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2, from 6 to 7:30pm.
Join Ms. Haase to learn about the complex relationships between native plants and pollinators. In exchange for food in the form of nectar and pollen, pollinators help plants reproduce by moving pollen from flower to flower — a classic example of mutualism between species.
While some plant species are attractive to many generalist pollinator species, the diversity of our native flowering plants is in part driven by the co-evolution between groups of plants and pollinators. In this program, Ms. Haase will discuss the invertebrate conservation work of the Xerces Society, basic pollinator biology and habitat needs, the interdependence between our native plants and pollinators, and how to observe these plant-pollinator interactions in southwest Colorado.
Kaitlin Haase, the southwest pollinator conservation specialist for the Xerces Society, works to create climate-resilient, connected pollinator habitat in the southwest region. Based in Santa Fe, NM, she collaborates with public and private land managers in New Mexico and the desert southwest to promote pollinator-friendly practices for landscaping, gardening and open space restoration. She holds a master’s degree in environmental science and policy from Northern Arizona University, where she studied impacts of drying on aquatic invertebrate diversity in natural and human-made ponds. Before graduate school, she worked as an ecological science technician in a variety of systems across the US, including predator-prey ecology in Michigan, riparian restoration in Virginia and rare species monitoring in Massachusetts.
Lecture information
Please register in advance for this presentation, at this website. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please note the passcode is needed for entry.