Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
41 results(1 / 2)
Educational sources and resource accessibility are drivers of pollinator management in urban farming systems
2026Jennifer Roedel, Karma Thomas, Zsofia Szendrei · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States
This study surveyed 74 urban growers to evaluate how grower and farm characteristics influence the implementation of eight common pollinator management strategies and overall farm crop richness. It found that demographic variables had no impact; instead, growers' decisions were shaped most by their sources of educational information and by resource use and accessibility, with online materials appearing more effective than hard-copy formats. The authors conclude that more accessible educational resources are needed for these historically underserved urban growers.
PollinatorsFood educationBiodiversityGardeners’ knowledge of arthropod ecological roles is shaped by experience, education, and gender
2026Edith Gonzales, Brenda B. Lin, Heidi Liere, Shalene Jha, Stacy M. Philpott · Figshare · United States (California)
An online survey of community gardeners in California, United States, assessed their knowledge of arthropod ecological roles. Gardeners demonstrated high knowledge, correctly classifying 71–83% of arthropod images. Female gardeners more accurately classified pollinators, while those who participated in a Master Gardener program more accurately classified herbivores and natural enemies.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsFood educationDistinct Socio-Ecological Drivers Shape the Diversity of Plants, Birds, and Lepidopterans in Chicago Community Gardens
2025Domanus A., Smith A., Roberts M., Schnorenberg R., Doane M., Minor E. · Cities and the Environment (CATE), 17(2):9 · United States (Chicago)
A study of 24 community gardens in Chicago measuring not only cultivated crops but also spontaneous (wild/native) plants, birds, butterflies and bees. Gardens supported many spontaneous plant species (mean 8.4 per garden) alongside crops, which underpinned diverse fauna (18 bird species, 13 bee genera, 10 lepidopteran species). Socio-ecological drivers such as management type (allotment vs. communal) significantly shaped cultivated richness, the volume of spontaneous vegetation, and tree/shrub density — showing that how gardens are managed governs urban biodiversity.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityCrop-specialized pollinator drives bee and floral community response to urbanization on small squash farms
2025Roedel J., Szendrei Z. · Urban Ecosystems · North America (urban-suburban gradient)
2025 research showing that squash bees are most abundant on suburban and urban farms compared to rural farms. Demonstrates that small-scale urban farms benefit from urban environment advantages (lower pesticide use, diverse floral resources, landscape heterogeneity), enabling bee and floral community responses to urbanization.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunityPolinizadores de huertos urbanos y periurbanos en la ciudad de Morelia (Michoacán, México)
2025Sergio Osorio Cañadas, Ek del Val de Gortari · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Mexico (Morelia)
This study investigated pollinators in seven urban and periurban orchards in Morelia, Mexico, during an annual agricultural cycle from October 2022 to June 2023. Monthly 5-hour censuses at each site revealed a considerable diversity of pollinators, with an average of 60 different species including bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, beetles, and hummingbirds, visiting the orchard flowers. It was also observed that each plant species attracted different pollinators.
PollinatorsBiodiversityPeri-urban agricultureSpatiotemporal variability and functional redundancy obscure effects of urbanization on strawberry pollinators
2025Kyla D. Schulte, Caleb J. Wilson, Anna Tawril, Mary A. Jamieson · Ecosphere · United States (Michigan)
A three-year study across 10 strawberry farms along a rural-urban gradient in Michigan, USA, characterized bee abundance, diversity, and community composition. The study found that urbanization, measured as impervious surface cover, had no consistent effect on overall bee abundance and diversity. While urbanization differentially influenced specific taxa (Halictini positively in year one, Ceratinini negatively in year three), the overall impact was limited, with wild bees, especially native species, being important pollinators in urban agriculture.
Limited or null effectPollinatorsBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageRénover Cleveland : démolition, racisme et agriculture urbaine dans l’Amérique abandonnée
2024Pierric Calenge, Maie Gérardot · Métropolitiques · United States (Cleveland)
The work by Max Rousseau and Vincent Béal illuminates the ambiguities of a policy that organizes urban decline and racial segregation in Cleveland. This policy promotes urban degrowth and racial segregation, balancing algorithmic management and urban greening. The study focuses on the Rust Belt region, which experiences de-urbanization marked by the subprime crisis, racism, and segregation.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareClimate changeBiodiversityFood educationElderlyFood lossOrganic cyclePollinatorsHeirloom & landraceFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureDigital agricultureDIYCompostFood educationWelfareElderlyFood lossOrganic cycleCommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsPolicyHealthEconomicsHeirloom & landraceUrban–rural linkageFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureAgricultura Urbana e Periurbana na zona oeste do Rio de Janeiro: seu papel na conservação da comunidade de abelhas nativas.
2024L. Garcia Ferreira, M. E. F. CORREIA, M. C. UZEDA · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
This study evaluated the role of agroecological urban and peri-urban agriculture in preserving native bee communities in the western region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ten different bee species, nesting in soil and cavities, were identified. Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) indicated that the percentage of agricultural, natural, and built-up land cover was insufficient to explain the species composition regarding their nesting habits. The findings suggest the importance of assessing the quality of agricultural environments, as their association with urban landscapes could support a greater richness of species with diverse nesting habits.
BiodiversityPollinatorsPeri-urban agricultureBee diversity on urban rooftop food gardens
2023Riehn J.K., Fogel N.S., Hathaway J.N., Camilo G.R. · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 5:1100470 · United States (St. Louis, MO)
Surveyed bees on three urban rooftop food farms and two nearby ground-level community gardens in St. Louis during 2017–2018. Rooftops hosted 38 species—a nested subset of ground-level communities, with fewer bumblebees and more non-native Megachile—with implications for pollination services on rooftop food production.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunityMultiple ecosystem service synergies and landscape mediation of biodiversity within urban agroecosystems
2023Jha S., Egerer M., Bichier P., Cohen H., Liere H., Lin B., Lucatero A., Philpott S.M. · Ecology Letters, 26(3):369-383 · United States (California)
Using >5,000 observations over five years across a network of urban community gardens in California, this study quantifies trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services (e.g., pest control and pollination) in urban agroecosystems. Contrary to assumptions that food production conflicts with biodiversity, it finds many synergies and few trade-offs, and shows that surrounding natural landscape cover interacts with local management to mediate services from mobile animals — underscoring the role of garden management and urban planning in optimizing biodiversity and human benefit.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityDecline in wild bee species richness associated with honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) abundance in an urban ecosystem
2023Gail MacInnis, Etienne Normandin, Carly D. Ziter · PeerJ · Canada (Montreal)
A study of wild bee communities across Montreal, Canada, greenspaces with differing honey bee densities, surveyed in 2020 and compared with 2013 baseline data. Sites with more honey bees had fewer wild bee species, and the negative association was strongest for small-bodied bees (inter-tegular span under 2.25 mm), whose shorter foraging ranges limit their access to floral resources under competition. Urban beekeeping is commonly promoted as environmentally beneficial, but this observational evidence indicates that high-density operations may pressure native pollinators through resource competition and pathogen transmission; the design is correlational rather than an experimental test of causation.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunity Gardens: A Solution to Combat Food Insecurity and Promote Native Bee Conservation
2023Sarah E. Orr · American Entomologist · United States
Community gardens are presented as a solution to food insecurity and a means to promote native bee conservation. They provide local fresh produce, affordable nutritious options, and foster education in gardening and nutrition. Additionally, community gardens support biodiversity, as roughly 35% of human food crops depend on animal pollination, with bees being primary pollinators for many crops.
CommunityFood educationWelfareBiodiversityPollinatorsStingless bee keeping: Biocultural conservation and agroecological education
2023Elda Míriam Aldasoro Maya, Ulises Rodríguez‐Robles, María Luisa Martínez Gutiérrez, Guelmy Anilú Chan Mutul, Teresita Avilez López, Helda Morales, Bruce G. Ferguson, Jorge Mérida‐Rivas · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Mexico (Tabasco)
Meliponiculture, or stingless bee breeding, in Mesoamerica serves as an effective tool for agroecological education, scaling, and pollinator conservation. In Tabasco, Mexico, activities included documenting contemporary knowledges, community agroecological workshops, guided visits to an institutional meliponary, and promoting school gardens, utilizing "knowledge dialogues" as a methodological approach. The study identified characteristics of stingless bees and their cultivation, such as their ecological and cultural importance, role as pollinators, association with community values, and productive potential, making them excellent mediators for biocultural conservation and agroecological education.
Food educationBiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityDemonstration gardens as informal education strategies in rehabilitation efforts
2022Rachel Bechtold, Catherine W. Shoulders, Jennie Popp, Donald M. Johnson, Lisa S. Wood · Natural sciences education · United States
This study evaluated the process and efficacy of installing a demonstration plot along a multiuse trail in Southeast Kansas to educate the community on rehabilitative plots. The greatest perceived challenges for this case study were the allotment of time and money for initial costs of the demonstration plot and addressing methodology for plant blindness in viewers.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsFood educationThe bee fauna associated with Pacific Northwest (USA) native plants for gardens
2022Aaron Anderson, Lucas Costner, Lincoln R. Best, Gail Langellotto · Conservation Science and Practice · United States
This study compared the attractiveness of 23 native Pacific Northwest plant species to bees over three field seasons, using timed bee counts and vacuum sampling. It found that Douglas' aster, California poppy, varileaf phacelia, Canada goldenrod, farewell-to-spring, globe gilia, and Oregon sunshine consistently supported high bee abundance and species richness. These findings can inform urban pollinator conservation efforts in gardens and public spaces.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityBody Size Variation in a Social Sweat Bee, Halictus ligatus (Halictidae, Apoidea), across Urban Environments
2021Rachel A. Brant, Gerardo R. Camilo · Insects · United States (Chicago)
Body size variation in female Halictus ligatus sweat bees collected from Chicago, Detroit, and Saint Louis between May and October 2016 was compared. Head width and intertegular distance were measured in bees collected from community gardens and urban farms. ANCOVA analysis indicated significantly different body size ranges across the three cities, and temperature also had a significant influence on body size.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityLet's Hear It For Ladybugs!: Observing Ladybugs Offers Opportunities To Integrate Language Arts Into A Life Cycle Unit
2021Rachel Wilson · Science and Children · United States
As part of a school garden project, second graders in the United States participated in integrated lessons exploring ladybug life cycles, culminating in the release of beneficial insects in our school garden. The unit aimed to connect life cycle concepts to a new organism, using a 5E format and integrating language arts activities. This approach met both science content objectives and English Language Arts standards.
Food educationBiodiversityPollinatorsLandscape and local site variables differentially influence pollinators and pollination services in urban agricultural sites
2019Bennett A.B., Lovell S. · PLoS ONE, 14(2):e0212034 · United States (Chicago)
A study of 19 urban agricultural sites in Chicago examining how surrounding land cover (landscape scale) and on-site design (local scale) shape bees and pollination services. Bee responses varied by body size and nesting habit: increasing impervious cover lowered bee richness and reduced pollination services, while more local floral area boosted small soil-nesting bees. It recommends minimizing impervious cover at large scales and adding floral resources locally so urban agriculture can conserve pollinators in the surrounding ecosystem.
PollinatorsBiodiversityPolicyLocal and Landscape Drivers of Carabid Activity, Species Richness, and Traits in Urban Gardens in Coastal California
2019Stacy M. Philpott, Simone Santos de Albuquerque, Peter Bichier, Hamutahl Cohen, Monika Egerer, Claire Kirk, Kipling Will · Insects · United States (California)
This study examined local and landscape factors influencing ground beetle (Carabidae) activity, species richness, and traits in 19 community gardens in coastal California. Gardens with higher crop richness and agricultural surroundings showed greater carabid activity density, but species and functional group richness did not respond to these factors. Gardens with more leaf litter had lower carabid activity but tended to have larger carabids, indicating both local and landscape factors influence carabid communities.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsNative and non-native plants attract diverse bees to urban gardens in California
2019Gordon W. Frankie, Ingrid Feng, Robbin W. Thorp, Jaime C. Pawelek, Marissa H. Chase, Christopher C. Jadallah, Mark Rizzardi · Journal of Pollination Ecology · United States (California)
An extensive survey of bee-flower collection records from 10 California cities between 2005 and 2011 examined diverse bee species visiting native and non-native ornamental plants. A total of 7,659 bees were examined, identifying 229 bee species visiting both native and non-native plant types. Native bee species were common on both plant types, but substantially more non-native bee species visited non-native plants compared to native plants.
BiodiversityPollinators[IN1255] Attracting Native Bees to Your Florida Landscape
2019Rachel E. Mallinger, Anne Yasalonis, Gary W. Knox, Wayne Hobbs · EDIS · United States (Florida)
This 7-page fact sheet aims to conserve approximately 315 species of native wild bees in Florida. Published by the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department, it shows how gardeners and land managers can aid bee conservation efforts by planting flowers in home or community gardens.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityDIYMulti‐scalar drivers of biodiversity: local management mediates wild bee community response to regional urbanization
2019Kimberly M. Ballare, John L. Neff, Rebecca Ruppel, Shalene Jha · Ecological Applications · United States
This study assessed bee community composition at 20 grassland and 20 agriculture sites across two US metroplexes over three time periods, identifying 172 species from nearly 13,000 specimens. It found that regional land use differentially impacted bee abundance and diversity depending on local habitat management. Local bare ground and floral richness were significantly related to multiple metrics of bee diversity.
BiodiversityPollinatorsUrban–rural linkageWild Bee Conservation within Urban Gardens and Nurseries: Effects of Local and Landscape Management
2019Monika Egerer, Jacob M. Cecala, Hamutahl Cohen · Sustainability · United States (California)
This study compared the effects of local and landscape features on wild bee species abundance and richness in 19 gardens and 11 nurseries in California, USA. Local features such as floral richness and ground cover, and landscape features like impervious land cover, were assessed. In gardens, floral richness, local habitat size, and urban land cover impacted wild bee species richness, while in nurseries, floral richness and the proportion of native plant species impacted wild bee abundance and richness.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityGarden Pollinators and the Potential for Ecosystem Service Flow to Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
2018Gail Ann Langellotto, Andony Melathopoulos, Isabella Messer, Aaron Anderson, Nathan McClintock, Lucas Costner · Sustainability · United States (Portland, Oregon)
This study sampled bees from gardens in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area and estimated typical foraging distances to assess whether urban gardens might supply pollination services to surrounding agricultural land. It estimates that when pollination-dependent crops are nearby, 30–50% of the garden bee community could potentially provide pollination services to adjacent crops, suggesting urban gardens could provision neighboring farms or serve as a refuge for pollinators.
PollinatorsBiodiversityUrban arthropods respond variably to changes in landscape context and spatial scale
2017Monika Egerer, Courtney Arel, Michelle D. Otoshi, Robyn D. Quistberg, Peter Bichier, Stacy M. Philpott · Journal of Urban Ecology · United States (California)
This three-year study in 19 urban community gardens on the California central coast examined how urban landscape intensification and diversity influence the abundance and richness of five arthropod groups (ants, bees, ladybeetles, parasitoids, spiders) across six spatial scales (200 m to 5 km). All arthropod groups were influenced by landscape factors, but this influence varied with spatial scale and local habitat features, likely due to arthropod community interactions and life history strategies.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinators