The Irish Pollinator Monitoring Scheme

Seven farmers participating in the Teagasc Future Beef Programme are participating in the Irish Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. Aisling Molloy, Future Beef Advisor, informs us of the programme and highlights what is being recorded.
The Irish Pollinator Monitoring Scheme was set up to monitor the status, trends and distribution of pollinators across different habitats throughout the years. Monitoring is a vital step towards addressing pollinator declines. The information collected will be used to evaluate actions to help develop effective pollinator conservation strategies.
It aims are to:
- Track the numbers of insect pollinator species and their distribution across different habitats – the numbers and if they are restricted to specific areas;
- Set up a monitoring site network across different semi-natural habitats, farmland and urban parks;
- Collect information on what wild plants and crops insects visit;
- What habitats pollinators use on farmland;
- Feed data into the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) bumblebee and butterfly monitoring schemes;
- Inform the status of Ireland’s pollinators to show are populations stable, threatened or close to extinction.
Pollinator insects
There are 102 species of bee in Ireland and they are the most important pollinators. In Ireland, we have one species of honeybee, 21 bumblebee species and 80 species of solitary bees, with most of these ground nesting. With 180 species, hoverflies are also an important pollinator group, as the adults feed on pollen and nectar. They also contribute to pest control, as the larvae of many species feed on crop pests including aphids. Other insects like butterflies, moths and beetles which visit flowers also carry out occasional pollination.
Pollinators are important because:
- They provide a pollination service to allow access to a large selection of food required to maintain a healthy and nutritious diet. Out of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food, 71 are pollinated by bees;
- They provide a financial benefit to the Irish economy – home-produced food crops are worth up to €59 million per year;
- 78% of wild plants benefit from pollinators – e.g. hawthorn trees are important for carbon sequestration and preventing flooding, while clover is important for nitrogen fixation.
Pollinator declines
One third of our wild bee species are threatened with extinction, and one species is thought to be extinct. In Ireland, 18% of butterfly species are threatened with extinction. This is due to many reasons including: habitat loss; a decline in food resources (wild flowers); pests and diseases; pesticides; and climate change.
Farmland can provide important habitats for insects. Pollinators need flowers to provide pollen and nectar (food), nesting and over wintering sites (shelter) and need protection from pesticides, pests and diseases (safety).
Figure 1: A solitary bee nesting site in a south-facing bank of clay along a field boundary on Ken Gill’s farm in Co. Offaly
Monitoring pollinators
The Irish Pollinator Monitoring Scheme has been taking place over the last two years on 37 sites across semi-natural areas, farmland and urban parks throughout Ireland. Up to 25 of these have farmed areas, such as the dry calcareous grassland and grey dune locations under the semi-natural category, but 18 are specific farmlands. There is a mix of beef, dairy, mixed enterprise and tillage farms.
The farms are visited once per month from April to August, amounting to five days in total. Farmers can monitor the pollinators themselves if they are interested, but trained surveyors can also visit the farms. They monitor what is going on in the fields and along field boundaries such as the hedges and field margins.
Four recording methods are used/;
- Pan trapping – these are wooden posts with brightly coloured bowls. Three are set up in fields and two in the field boundaries on the southern or/and eastern side. They are setup in the morning and collected after six hours;
- 1km fixed walk – 500m along the boundary and 500m in the field to get an estimate of pollinator numbers and to see what plants they are visiting or if they are looking for nesting sites;
- Floral surveys – 2m radius to see what plants are flowering at the time on the farm;
- Flower insect timed (FIT) counts – 50cm x 50cm observation plot to count how many insects visit a particular plant species in that plot within 10 minutes. An app is available for this so all people can partake even if not involved in monitoring scheme.
For more inforation on this survey, click here.
Figure 2: Pictured on Kay O’Sullivan’s farm in Co. Cork, pan trapping is one recording method used.
2022 preliminary results
Processing of the pan trap data is ongoing, but 146 surveys were conducted across 35 sites in 2022. 252 FIT counts were carried out, along with 292 transect walks.
In 2022, 37% of all FIT counts that were submitted for the FIT Count survey were through the Irish Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. Grasslands with wildflowers were a popular habitat amongst other flies and bumblebees. Butterflies and moths made up a higher percentage of the observed insect community on grasslands when compared to gardens, farm crops and grassy verges. The field boundaries had an even spread of pollinator insects versus in-field.
Insect pollinator species that were found on the farmland transects include the garden bumblebee, the ashy mining bee, the marmalade hoverfly (the larvae feed on aphids) and the ringlet butterfly. They were found to be visiting many different plants especially along the field boundaries including bramble, thistles, clovers, dandelion, buttercups and hawthorn.
These are preliminary results and further analysis is being completed on the 2022 and 2023 data.
What can you do to help pollinators?
According to Dr. Michelle Larkin, three actions you can take to help pollinators are to:
- Avoid cutting hedges annually – cutting on a three-year rotation, but don’t cut them all at once either to ensure there are always some flowers available to pollinators;
- Don’t remove dandelions – allow them to bloom as they are one of the best sources of food for insect pollinators, especially as they are one of the first wildflowers to emerge. They are an important food source for the first pollinators like bumblebee queens that emerge in the spring;
- Avoid using pesticides along field margins where possible and allow some patch of wildflowers like bramble to bloom if they are not causing an issue.
The NBDC have published a guidance document that lists simple, evidence-based actions you can take to help pollinators on your farm. It is available here.
For more information on the Teagasc Future Beef Programme, click here.