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Library 2015

2015, BCIT, Hedgerow, Report

Bird Usage of DFWT Farmland Hedgerows in Delta, British Columbia

Rebecca Bollwit
May 29, 2020

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604-940-3392
Fax: 604-946-7820
205 - 4882 Delta Street
Delta, BC V4K 2T8
dfwt@dccnet.com

Hi everyone! My name is Madyson and I am the new R

Hi everyone! My name is Madyson and I am the new Research Assistant at DFWT. I will be helping Christine and the field technicians with projects this summer.

I grew up in Tsawwassen and I am a student going into my fourth year at UBCO in Earth and Environmental Sciences. I am excited to be a part of the team, help out with various research projects, and gain some valuable experience over the summer!

🫐 Blueberry growers typically remove plants due

🫐 Blueberry growers typically remove plants due to Scorch virus, which has been impacting highbush blueberries in the Fraser Valley, or to restore degraded land and prepare the soil for future blueberry plantings. Scorch virus does not pose a risk to human health, but can have devastating impacts on blueberry fields. If Scorch is detected, the provincial recommendations are to remove the plants immediately.

🫐DFWT partners with growers who have had to remove large sections of their fields through our Blueberry Rest Program (BRP). Participants plant pollinator set-asides of flowers, grasses, and broad-leaved plants in the bare soil, then leave them to rest for up to 4 years.

🌾The pollinator set-asides help to rebuild the soil’s texture, and support local pollinator populations by providing flowering plants within berry fields while blueberries are not in bloom. They also help to reduce disease transfer from Scorch virus by buffering the healthy blueberry bushes that remain.

📆 For this year’s BRP, seeding should be complete by June 30th, and agreements finalized by July 15th. For more information, please visit the link in our bio.

🐝🌾 Bee on alert for some exciting research h

🐝🌾 Bee on alert for some exciting research happening along field margins this summer!

Sarah is working on her master’s thesis at @universityofbc, she’s on a mission to uncover the secrets of bumble bee nesting habitats. Her work involves monitoring grassland set-asides and field margins in Delta and Richmond to identify bumble bee nest sites. Bumble bees are carefully and stealthily captured with nets, labelled in vials, placed on ice so they become sleepy, and are ultimately released after sampling!

Sarah collects worker bee DNA to determine the size and presence of different colonies. These DNA tests are performed using a small segment of a leg, which, believe it or not, does not bother the bees at all!

Why is Sarah’s research so important? Well, she’s not only helping to identify the diverse species of bees found in our area but also shedding light on how we can help support bumble bee populations in our agricultural areas, along with the high-quality pollination services that they provide. One of the bees on Sarah’s watchlist is the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, which is an introduced species on the west coast, and may be causing trouble for our native species of bees.

Thank you Sarah for sharing your insights on these important pollinators, we look forward to your results!

🫐 BC produces 96% of Canadian highbush blueberr

🫐 BC produces 96% of Canadian highbush blueberries – and 99% of those blueberries are grown in the Fraser Valley, Richmond, Delta, Surrey, Pitt Meadows, and Matsqui Prairie. Blueberry production has a $7 billion dollar impact on BC’s economy!

🫐This tasty little superfood relies on pollination for production, which is why you often see honey bee hives standing in the fields. But studies have shown that for optimal pollination to occur, both native and honey bees need to be present. Wild pollinators reduce pollination deficits – the loss of potential crop yield due to suboptimal pollination. Our research shows that native bees could potentially increase highbush blueberry yields in the Lower Mainland by 30%!

🌾DFWT offers two programs with cost-share incentives to help farmers plant habitat for native bees. To learn more about our research, and about our Hedgerow and Field Margins Programs, please visit the link in our bio.

Hello everybody! My name is Nevada and I am the ne

Hello everybody! My name is Nevada and I am the new Events Coordinator at DFWT. I will be helping out mostly with this year's Day at the Farm!

I have lived in Ladner practically my entire life, and I have been to almost every single Day at the Farm (12 of them to be exact)! I am a student at Simon Fraser University and I am on the varsity softball team.

I am so excited to be working for DFWT this summer and I hope to see you all at this year's Day at the Farm on September 9th!

There's a lot happening underfoot in our Grassland

There's a lot happening underfoot in our Grassland Set Asides this summer!

@universityofbc PhD student Matt Tsuruda is delving into the fascinating world of insect community composition to uncover their role in predicting pest control rates and organic matter decomposition. By using insect community composition, Matt aims to simplify the measurement of crucial metrics of ecosystem health.

Matt's approach involves using different methodologies to capture a diverse range of insects. From an insect vacuum to pitfall and decomposer traps, he's leaving no leaf unturned. Each trap offers unique insights into specific insect populations, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the insect community.

Moreover, Matt is also investigating the connection between soil-dwelling insects and soil bulk density. By taking soil samples, he hopes to uncover their potential as indicators of soil health and density.

Thank you Matt for taking us into the field with you, and we look forward to the fascinating results that lie ahead!

You might not think about where your food comes fr

You might not think about where your food comes from, but your local farmers do. Every day. 🌽 🐄 🥗

If there’s one lesson we’ve learned over the past three years, it’s that local sources of supply are important – and local farmland for food production is essential. People often think that if we don’t farm here, we can farm elsewhere, but only 5% of BC’s total land area is suitable for agriculture. Of that, much of the best farmland is located in the urbanized Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. If that land is lost to urban sprawl, BC will become almost entirely dependent on imported food.

Local farms – large and small – reduce our reliance on imports, support local economies, and reduce the environmental footprint of the food on our tables. And fresh, local food tastes great!

At DFWT, we’re working to conserve local farmland, improve its productivity and economic viability, using sustainable farming practices. You can help by eating local, and by joining efforts to protect local farmland. 🚜🌾

On the edges of urban areas, farmland is often the

On the edges of urban areas, farmland is often the only habitat in which wildlife can forage, nest, and raise their young.

🌳 Habitat loss is the biggest driver of extinction, and local farmland in the Fraser River Estuary provides shelter for species-at-risk like Barn Owls and Pacific Blue Herons. It also provides critical foraging and resting sites for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway, including 15 species of global and continental importance.

🌳 Farmland in the Lower Mainland has become expensive and scarce, and – in the face of challenges such as changing climate patterns – farmers are under more pressure than ever to increase their land’s productivity and ensure its economic viability.

🌳 That’s where DFWT comes in. We help farmers create and maintain wildlife habitat on farms through cost-sharing programs – because we know that a biodiverse world is a resilient world.

Want to learn more about the importance of biodiversity on farmland? Please visit DFWT using the link in our bio.

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