Dr. Steve Frank is an entomologist who recognizes that urban trees provide a lot of services back to people living in cities. Trees also provide a lot resources to pollinating insects as well. Given the importance of trees to broad ecological systems, Dr. Frank looks for practical and innovative ways to preserving tree health. His lab also studies how the urban heat island effect increases insect pest abundance and damage on urban trees and the congruence between urban and global warming to determine if cities could serve as canaries in the coal mine of climate change to predict pest outbreaks in natural forests.
Listen in to learn about how urban environments affect pollinators, what homeowners and civil planners can do to improve them, and which plants and trees are best for the city.
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“People can even help their own local micro-habitat by shading their driveway and their house and things like that, which saves you energy to boot.“ – Steve Frank
Show Notes:
- How urbanization affects pollinators and their habitats
- What you can do to help pollinators in your urban community
- How cities can design their spaces to better suit their natural landscape and it’s pollinators
- How Steve uses “habitat complexity” to better urban landscapes
- Why stressed plants can produce many problems for pollinators
- Steve’s recommendations on plants for pollinators at your home
- How Steve finds his favorite books
“You have a master gardener in your neighborhood who’s really driving a community garden or something like that. That comes and goes, but the trees will still be there.“ – Steve Frank
Links Mentioned:
- Check out Steve’s lab website
- Find out more about the NCSU Resources on Pollinator Conservation
- Learn more about Steve’s favorite tool, the Optivisor
- Connect with Steve Frank at North Carolina State University
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