New study examines mining impact on area's pollinators

'Current land uses may have a greater influence on pollinating insects than disturbance caused by mining.’

A new report examines the impact of mining on pollinating insects. It has found current land uses may have a greater influence than mining practices. As part of the report, researchers and volunteers collected insect samples from food forest sites over the summer months. (Supplied/Kaleigh Mooney)

That’s according to new research done by Trent University in conjunction with Sudbury Shared Harvest.

“Simply put, it does not seem to matter if there is mining disturbance nearby, as long as there is enough forested area to supply the pollinator population with supplementary food resources and nesting habitat,” said author and undergraduate student Kaleigh Mooney.

“That said a new study with more sample sites would be beneficial to draw stronger conclusions about the relationship between pollinator groups and surrounding green space.”

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Volunteers and Sudbury Shared Harvest staff collected insect samples from food forest sites over the summer months.

Volunteers and Sudbury Shared Harvest staff collected insect samples from food forest sites over the summer months as part of the research study. (Supplied/Kaleigh Mooney)

Her report is part of a long-term study by Sudbury Shared Harvest in collaboration with researchers at Trent University and Sir Sandford Fleming College that takes a look into the effects of heavy metal contamination in soils.

A new report examines the impact of mining on pollinating insects. It has found current land uses may have a greater influence than mining practices. Kaleigh Mooney, an undergraduate student and the author of the report, collecting insect samples in the summer of 2023. (Supplied/Kaleigh Mooney)

“So the big conclusions I would draw from this study are those island gardens, like having the most amount of garden space available for pollinators, is a really essential tool for increasing the diversity in city areas, especially when it's in close proximity to industrial practices,” said Mooney.

Kaleigh Mooney“In growing native plants, it’s something that a lot of people hadn’t heard of before, when we started our food forest we hadn’t paid a lot of attention to planting native, it was kind of something that we had thought about and considered but more and more now when we plant flowers in our gardens, we’re specifically trying to plant native plants,” said Carrie Regenstreif, co-executive director of Sudbury Shared Harvest.

Regenstreif adds their long-term goal is to share results with the community in the form of guidelines for growing food safely in local soil.

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The findings can be found on the group’s website.