Saskatoon, pincherry, chokecherry to name a few are pollinated bushes in the afforestation areas which rely on our bees and pollinator species. According to John Mola et al in The Importance of Forests in Bumble Bee Biology and Conservation writes, “forests and woody edges provide food resources during phenologically distinct periods, are often preferred nesting and overwintering habitats, and can offer favorable abiotic conditions in a changing climate.” Wildlife Preservation goes on to say, “forests provide lots of nooks and crannies for bumble bee queens to start their new colonies. Not only that, but the trees and shrubs in forests help slow down harsh winds, protect bees from the rain, and keep temperatures down during the heat of the summer by providing shade from the sun.” From the American Forest Foundation; “Mature stands [of forests] are also well suited for bees. Especially stands that include a variety of species, as well as openings or gaps. Mature forests can provide shade and protection from extreme weather for hives.”
What can you do?
Destroy your bug-zapper! Bug zappers kill all bugs and don’t pick and choose the bugs you don’t like. So all beneficial pollinator species bugs are also eliminated, and all the bird food on wings goes away, so the food web for the declining bird population is also gone.
Write a letter to your local, provincial and federal politician asking for a ban on pesticides and herbicides.
Buy organic food only in the supermarket or farmer’s market – or grow your own food.
There are light-free zones for star gazers to enjoy our milky way galaxy which is splendid! Why are there not Electro-magnetic Field EMF-free zones also? Environmental Health Trust EHT Executive Director Theodora Scarato writes, and says on YouTube; 5G and Small Cell Environmental Effects: Birds, Bees Trees and Climate. Take action now! Dana Dovey from Newsweek, says; “Technology is quite literally destroying nature, with a new report further confirming that electromagnetic radiation from power lines and cell towers can disorientate birds and insects and destroy plant health.” BeeHeroic says “Bees Plea, Stop 5G “Due to several factors – including body size, the magnetite that all animals have in their bodies and more – pollinating insects and animals are highly susceptible to 5G. In addition, the fact that mmWaves make plants toxic – to animals and humans – creates a combination that is forcing accelerated extinction of nearly all life on Earth.”
Plant trees and forests.
Our native biodiversity needs wild spaces, food and homes such as trees and forests provide in which to thrive. Forests, tree planting, and forest conservation initiatives are nature-based solutions towards climate action. Pollution, pesticides, herbicides are escalating the extinction events. Creating safe, organic forest spaces is a large step to halt and slow down the silent sixth mass extinction event of invertebrates, the planet’s bird food on wings. Ornithologists and botanists have noticed that the songbird, and raptor populations have declined by a staggering 48%. The monitored wildlife populations are reduced by a catastrophic 68%. A loss of forests and habitats have caused over 2/3 of our animal populations to totally disappear.
Richard St. Barbe Baker said it this way, “If a person loses one third of his or her skin, the person will die; if a tree loses a third of its bark, the tree will die, and if the world loses a third of its trees, the world will die.
We live less that five minutes without air and the trees give us air we breathe. We live less than five days without water, and trees are absolutely essential in the water cycle. We live less than five weeks without food, and without the trees we could not grow food.” (Filson, Bruce K. October 7, 1982, Western People, p. 5)
When you are out connecting with nature and you just might find something fascinating! Here is the place to learn more about it.
About this event
Get together virtually Tue, April 26, 2022 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM CST– in attendance will be an insect specialist by the name of Sydney Worthy, the Entomologist from the City of Saskatoon to help with hints and tips about insects and iNaturalist which is fantastic!
You may end up with a better understanding of insects, their habitats and ecology, their importance as pollinators and have a much better opportunity to receive an identification of your amazing insect and bug iNaturalist photos.
These hints and tips are a wonderful clue for where to look, what are the various insect seasons, and how to find insects – where they may be hiding – perhaps even what to look for on the insect while taking its photograph with your smartphone with iNaturalist downloaded.
This webinar is an introduction to insects with the #CNCYXE Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge happening April 29 – May 2 hosted by the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas. The identification phase is May 3 to May 8 with the City Nature Challenge winners announced on May 9
The free iNaturalist app is a powerful tool to use and as easy as 1-2-3 !
Download the free INaturalist app then sign in
Find plants, trees, lichen, insects, bugs nearby to take pictures using iNaturalist’s Computer Vision technology
Upload your observation to the crowd-sourced species identification system
That being said, this virtual webinar session will assist you to connect with the iNaturalist global community of naturalists, scientists, and members of the public in making great identifications of your insect observations, to answer that time revered question; “What is it?”!
The goals for the City Nature Challenge are three.
Engage the most people
Make the most observations
Find the Most species in the Saskatoon And Area
The wonderful thing about this webinar is that the hints and tips learned today will be applicable throughout all the most wonderful insect seasons to enhance your naturalist journey and journal entries.
All are welcome, it should be great for families and home-schoolers to engage with students – the answer to “Why is the sky blue?” we will leave up to you, but this workshop may help you delve into your observations on iNaturalist to figure out the name of the insect found. This workshop will also help you to use the iNaturalist tool and the magic of Artificial Intelligence and crowd sourced networking to identify those insects around the home to determine if there are any which are considered “invasive pests” and those which are species at risk. This workshop will also help with direct networking for any questions you may have which are insect related.
Milkweed with Monarch Buttefly (Danaus plexippus) Pollinator on rosePollinator on dandelionPollinatorRed-blue Checkered Beetle Trichodes nuttalli on a Missouri Goldenrod
Solidago missouriensis at the afforestation area
Flower morphology Longitudinal section showing achene formation and hypanthium in genus Rosa Courtesy RoRo cc1.2
How would one describe a rose hip?
The rose hip or fruiting body is referred to as an aggregate fruit which contains many true seeds or achenes within it. These small seeds or nutlets are pendulous with a size of about 3-4 mm. Pendulous derives from the Latin pendulus ‘hanging down.’ A rose hip features an expanded hypanthium (aka floral cup), which is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens unite with the receptacle to form a cup-shaped tube to encircle around the nutlets (seeds or achenes).
Rose Hip fruiting body bearing seeds within sepals (rose hip lobes) above
Rose Hip fruiting body bearing seeds within sepals (rose hip lobes) above
The botanical term calyx arises from the Greek kalux ‘case of a bud, husk’, and is related to kaluptein ‘to hide’. The species Rosa will first use the calyx as a case ‘to hide” and protect the rose bud as it develops. The calyx surrounds the corolla, and is typically divided into lobes called sepals. The sepals emerge out of the apex or top of the red to orange coloured rose hip fruiting body.
The perianth is the botanical term for the envelope and has two separate units arising from a central point of origin (concentric). Perianth arises from two roots, Greek peri ‘around’ + anthos ‘flower’. The outer perianth is termed the calyx, and the calyx may be divided into sepals. The inner perianth is the corolla. The calyx is cup-shaped or urn-shaped, with a constriction at the top or the throat. Imagine a small crown, garland or a wreath made of petals, and that is a corolla, from the Latin corolla meaning small garland, little crown, chaplet or wreath.
Perfect flower
Now, then the interesting thing about roses, are that though the plants may arise from a rhizomatous root producing clones growing within a rose thicket. The clones or individual Rose plants which are seen above ground have perfect flowers (male and female organs in the same flower) so they are neither dioecious (having male flowers on one plant and female flowers on a different plant like the trembling aspen Populous tremuloides), nor monoecious (having male flowers and female flowers on the same plant).
Delve into the diversity between the ways in which the trembling aspen and the native rose bushes reproduce. Compare -find ways that they are similar and contrast -explore ways that they are different.
Male reproductive organ the Androecium.
The stamens are the yellow pollen bearing organ of a flower, from the Latin stamen, foundation in weaving, the thread of the warp, from Proto-Indo-European steh₂– “stand”, and from Gothic stoma, Sanskrit Sthaman, “Place, strength.” The stamens in a flower are collectively called the androecium. A stamen will feature an anther and a filament, Filament derives from classical Latin filum, meaning “thread” Anther derives from French anthère, from classical Latin anthera, meaning “medicine extracted from the flower” in turn from Ancient Greek ἀνθηρά, feminine of ἀνθηρός, “flowery”, from ἄνθος, “flower.” Androecium derives from Ancient Greek ἀνήρ meaning “man”, and οἶκος meaning “house” or “chamber/room”.
Female reproductive organ, the Gynoecium.
Rose plants have perfect flowers (male and female organs in the same flower), and therefore, they may be referred to as hermaphroditic, or bisexual. The male organs are the stamens, and the female organs are the carpels or pistils making up the fertile portion of the flower. The stamen consists of anther and filament as mentioned earlier, and the pistil features the stigma, style and ovary. Together, the stigma, style and ovary are referred to as the pistil and make up the female organ of the flower, the gynoecium. The male organ of the rose is the androecium, and the female organ the gynoecium.
Perigynous flower.
A rose, besides featuring a perfect flower, is also termed a perigynous flower. Perigynous comes from two Greek words as roots, peri- ‘around’ + gunē ‘woman.’ This perigynous term describes the sepals, petals, and stamens at the same level ‘around’ the edge or rim of the hypanthium with the ovary below. The ovary wall, becomes the fleshy part of the rose hip. The floral parts of the ovary are fused into a cup, referred to as the hypanthium which surrounds the ovary. Perigynous flowers are often referred to as having a half-inferior ovary (or, sometimes, partially inferior or half-superior). This arrangement is particularly frequent in the rose family.
Pollination.
Several taller stamens surround the shorter styles in the central area of the bloom. Roses produce yellow pollen held on pollen sacs called anthers reaching up high from the center of the rose blossom on the tips of filaments. A pollinator insect will fly around to feed on the nectar, and some of the pollen rubs off onto the legs and body of the pollinator. The rose flowers also have a stigma, which receives the pollen on the sticky stigma carpel situated at the tip of the style. When the insect flies off to the next flower, it is pollinated when the pollen sticks to the top of the pistil. The style connects the ovary and the stigma of the rose flower. The ovary, thus pollinated will then begin producing seeds. At the top of the rose stem, the “receptacle” begins to grow from the seeds being created within the ovary contained within it. Another name for the receptacle is the hypanthium.
Native Rose Bush blooming in June
Native Rose Bush blooming in June
Bumblebee on rose
The flower bloom
If a rose has more than one blossom, the inflorescence type is a cyme, which means each axis of the peduncle blooms before the flowers lower down on the stem. Additionally, each bloom (inflorescence) is stellate, or star shaped.
Reproduction methods
Reproduction of these native rose plants takes place by four methods. Roses can reproduce by
Place the following labels on the first picture at the top of the page.
Petal (Edge of petals are showing)
Sepals (Edge of sepals are showing)
Stamens
Filament
Anther sacs holding the yellow pollen
Pistil
Stigma
Style
Ovary
Achenes, seeds or nutlets
When the bees and pollinating insects come to the native roses is it day or night?
When a trembling aspen (Populous tremuloides) is compared to a native rose plant, would pollinating insects go to both the aspen tree and the rose bush?
How does the structure of the hypanthium help the rose bush to survive? Would a rose bush do as well with a winged seed that was carried off in the wind?
Why do rose petals fall off shortly after pollinating season?
How are the rose bushes benefited by a visit from a pollinating insect?
Can you hear a bee buzzing when they are collecting pollen from a flower? Why or why not?
What safety assessments need to be made while observing pollinating insects?
Are bees the only insects which are capable of pollinating rose bush flowers?
Can bees pollinate rose bush flowers in September? Why or why not? What happens to bees over the winter months?
Will pollinating insects continue to pollinate the rose bush flower if humans are around? If other animals are nearby?
Consider the position of the stamens, and pistils in the hypanthium of the rose flower. Why do the stamens and pistils rise out above the petals of the rose bush flower?
If you were as small as an insect, how would the stamens and pistils look as the insect crawled along the petal, and observed the stamens and pistils from the side?
How does the colour of the yellow pollen in the anther sac affect the visibility to pollinating insects?
The taxonomic sub-family Rosoideae describes those plant genera bearing aggregate fruits containing seeds, small achenes or drupelets, and the fleshy part of the fruit is the female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an ovary, a stigma, and a style. Does it help to learn about the hypanthium, and how the rose flower is pollinated to understand how the fleshy fruit grows and develops into a rose hip?
As pollinating insects such as bees visit the rose bush flowers, what kind of behaviour takes place? Draw a picture of a pollinating insect, and how the unique nature of the hypanthium helps them to collect pollen.
Have you been aware of another plants that have a similar pollinating system?
If the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities had no humans in them, and they were preserved habitats, what effect would that have on the native rose bushes? Are the native rose bushes in danger of extirpation or extinction, or are they thriving? Why? Does human activity affect the pollination of native rose bushes?
How do light and sounds in and around the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities affect the native rose bush pollination? Do pollinating insects become more or less active under artificial light? Do rose bush flowers close up in the dark?
If you were a bug walking on a rose petal, would it be easy or hard to walk along the surface of the petal?
Does weather affect the pollination of rose flowers? Do pollinating insects fly around in a rain storm? in a hail storm? during a light rain sprinkle?
Native rose plants have four methods of reproduction, are they asexual, or sexual? Does pollination and creating achenes in the fruiting body work better for the native roses, or does suckering via rhizomatous roots?
Do rose plants have other methods of reproduction?
Learning about how a rose bush creates seeds by being pollinated, how is the flower shape important to the survival of the rose bush?
How large are the seeds compared to the rose bush plant?
How does the rose bush get the seeds out of the rose hip after the flower has been pollinated?
Create a story of the relationship between bees and rose bush flowers.
How are the bumble bees benefited from flying over to the rose bush flowers?
Do both the trembling aspen and the rose bush have leaves, roots, stems. flowers, fruits and seeds?
Every act of kindness benefits the giver, as well as the receiver.
-Katrina Mayer
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust
“How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!”–Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 