Alabama is the latest state to sign on to the Great Southeast Pollinator Census. Photo: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is coming to Alabama this year.
Why it matters: Pollinators are essential to food crops and the ecosystem at large, and data gathered during the count on Aug. 22-23 will drive research, education and action.
The count started when coordinator Becky Griffin observed that gardeners at school and community gardens were versed in soil health and plant selection, but not pollinators.
More than 4,000 people participated in the first count in 2019, which rose to 6,000 by 2021. After that they started adding states: South Carolina in 2022, North Carolina in 2023, Florida in 2024 and this year, Alabama.
How it works: Sign up on the website and pick a blooming plant. Count an insect each time it lands on the plant for 15 minutes on Aug. 22-23 and track it on a provided sheet.
Bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, moths and more all count, and you can submit separate counts from multiple plants.
Zoom in: Griffin, community and school garden coordinator for the Georgia Center for Urban Agriculture, says in a how-to video that researchers are already using the data, and other areas of the country have adopted the model.
The bottom line: The census hopes to create or add to pollinator habitat, increase entomological literacy and generate useful data about pollinator populations.
