Rebugging our Community

by Katelyn Rinicker | Nov 22, 2024

Insect populations have dropped drastically over the last few decades. Bugs are the building blocks of our environment and provide many benefits such as beautiful flowers, food sources, soil aeration, and more. We can help these little creatures flourish by rebugging our community. I could spout science facts all day long about how insect populations have dwindled, you have likely already noticed.

When I was younger, we would visit my grandparents who lived 2 hours away. We would have to stop at least once to clean our windshield. Now I can drive over 6 hours to visit my parents and never have to clean my windshield. Or maybe, you have noticed that there aren’t as many Monarch butterflies as you used to see. We used to take walks and have a hard time not stepping on grasshoppers and we used to see fireflies every night. Now there seems to be a fraction of insects around as there used to be. According to Hallmann et al, insect biomass has declined by 74% – 83%. Many insects are beneficial and are not considered pests. They decompose plants, animals, and fecal matter. They aerate our soil, provide a food source for other animals, and pollinate our plants.

Why are they declining?

This is a tricky question as their decline is not caused by just one thing. They are dying a death by a thousand cuts. Habitat fragmentation and degradation, pollution, pesticide use (especially Neonictonoids), loss of native plants, light pollution, climate change, and many other reasons. Some species of insects need specific food sources or plants to lay their eggs on. Iowa has lost over 99% of its native landscapes, meaning it has become increasingly difficult for insects to find their host plants and habitats.

Insect Decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a Thousand cuts by Wagner et al assesses the metadata surrounding insect decline.

What can we do to help?

While this decline is very alarming, we can all help “rebug” our world.

If you have a minute:

Don’t kill the bugs that have found their way into your home; instead, relocate them outside. If you don’t want to touch them, you can safely handle them with a piece of paper and a cup.
Reduce pesticide use, or better yet, stop using it altogether – pesticides harm all insects, not just the small percentage that are considered pests

Or use alternative methods such as putting food in containers so it is not available to insects
Or put soapy water, cinnamon, lemon juice, or mint around the holes that they seem to be coming in at
If you MUST kill them, use boiling water or cornstarch instead of chemicals
Be untidy in your garden! Insects use weeds, old plant stems, wood, and leaves
Reduce outdoor lighting – you can do this by incorporating motion sensors. Insects and a variety of other animals use the stars as navigation. Constant outdoor lighting disrupts and confuses their natural systems.
Keep lawn grass longer – this provides shelter and a food source

If you have more time:

Plant native gardens – this provides food sources and habitat, it also helps to connect habitats as insects can only travel so far before needing a break and a snack
You can do this in containers, your yard, window boxes, or anywhere there is a little bit of space!

Plant host plants – such as milkweed for monarch butterflies
Grow your own produce – the flowers are great sources of nutrients for insects
Compost – an open compost pile provides warmth, habitat, and food for invertebrates

You can also use compost systems to build up soil health!

If you have a lot of time:

Advocate for policies that promote re-wilding the state. This helps protect and create more natural areas. Write to your local, state, and federal governments to explain the importance of policies protecting insects and wildlife.
Talk to your boss and landlords about creating native gardens
Join community groups that support insects!

“The loss of even a small percent of insects might also be disproportionately consequential. They sit at the base of the food web; if they go down, so will many birds, bats, spiders, and other predators.”
– Ed Young

Clover Lawns: Is the Trend Lucky for Pollinators?

by Jessica Butters | Mar 2, 2023

A honey bee visits a clover flower.

The idea of creating a pollinator-friendly yard is finally taking root, and the notion of a perfect lawn, along with its expense, is being weeded out. Clover lawns are one of the latest trends yard owners are trying out in an effort to be more environmentally conscious. This new kind of lawn is often touted to support pollinators, require less up-keep, and lower pollution. But do they live up to the hype?

What is a clover lawn?

What constitutes a “clover lawn” has several renditions. The simplest form of a clover lawn is a lawn in which someone passively allowed clover to establish and grow. They stopped spraying herbicides, mowed less, and allowed grass to die in areas, giving way to clover and other plants. A second kind of clover lawn is one in which clover was actively seeded into the lawn, over the existing turf (this was a common practice until the 1950s). A third way of creating a clover lawn is to kill and remove all turf and replace it entirely with clover, resulting in a uniform lawn.

Common clovers used for lawns are nonnative, including white (Dutch) clover (Trifolium repens) and strawberry clover (Trifolium fragiferum), both hailing from Eurasia. Strawberry clover is also the species included in the Scotts®Turf Builder®Clover Lawn seed. The idea of seeding mini or micro clovers is increasingly popular. These clovers are normally short-statured cultivars of the species listed above. Micro clover lawns are supposed to require even less maintenance and have smaller flowers that attract fewer bees. There are no readily-available native clovers that are marketed for clover lawns (though there are some fantastic native clovers in Iowa).

A hairstreak butterfly on a dandelion.

Why would you want a clover lawn?

Those interested in clover lawns will have different objectives. Some are drawn to the fact that most clovers require less care than turf grasses (though they still require regular maintenance). Clovers usually need less mowing, resist weeds, many are drought- and shade-tolerant, and they also fix nitrogen in the soil, eliminating the need for fertilizer. These attributes are also welcomed by those looking to reduce carbon emissions and pollution by requiring less mowing, herbicides, and fertilizers. Lastly, wildlife lovers hope to support pollinators with clover due to the fact that their flowers can attract honey bees and some native bees. However, keep in mind that these positive attributes are good only in comparison to a traditional turf-grass lawn, which provides scant (if any) environmental benefits and requires a lot of maintenance. Additionally, clover does not stand up to heavy foot traffic as well as grasses, and may need to be reseeded every two or three years.

A lucky four-leaf clover.

A native bee visiting nonnative clover.

Do clover lawns benefit pollinators?

Simply put, some clover lawns can provide benefits to some pollinators. If you really want a clover lawn, the best method for wildlife (and your wallet) is to passively allow clover to enter your lawn. This practice requires you to mow less and stop using herbicides, which will keep pollinators in your area healthier.

While there are some benefits to having a clover lawn, they are small from a broader point of view. At the end of the day, adding clover to your lawn adds a few species of nonnative plants in your area, which often provide sub-optimal nutrition to native pollinators. Keep in mind that many pollinators are specialists and will not visit nonnative clover. Additionally, it may be difficult to keep the clover on your own lawn, and out of natural habitats. In contrast, planting a pollinator garden, even a small one, adds multiple native flower species and provides high-quality habitat to native pollinators. Planting within a garden also doesn’t require you to rethink your entire lawn. Finally, a garden is a stronger challenge to the status quo, as planting a diverse and beautiful garden is a lot harder to be annoyed about than nonnative dandelions and clover in your front yard. It is better PR for pollinator habitat: a neighbor with a more traditional mindset for a lawn will not appreciate the spread of “weeds”, but may be open to the idea of creating their own native plant garden.

Are clover lawns worth it?

In my personal opinion, ideas such as clover lawns challenge the current lawn standard, but are not the end goal. They also do not entirely live up to the hype: they still require maintenance, and are not the seed-and-forget or “let it go” solution that many were hoping for. From this point of view, you might as well grow native plants.

From an environmental standpoint, we need more native habitat and less lawn, whether it’s traditional or clover. It would be a more effective and meaningful trend to encourage people to grow “micro gardens” for pollinators instead of praising micro clovers and other nonnative lawn alternatives. To make the biggest impact in your corner of the world, ending pesticide use and planting a native plant garden (even a tiny one!) is best. However, if that kind of project is not possible for you at the moment, ending all pesticide use and choosing to mow less often is definitely “better than nothing”. Doing so will probably invite clover into your lawn, which will suffice until you can start a small garden. The clover trend is not lucky for all pollinators, but a garden that includes native clovers could be!

A sweat bee visiting a native clover.