Blythewood—Blythewood High School
freshman Hailey Ann Chaisson has been awarded state recognition in the “Local
Heroes: Your Hardworking Pollinators” conservation poster contest, sponsored by
the South Carolina Association of Conservation Districts. State winners receive
cash awards and will now advance to the national competition, sponsored by the
National Association of Conservation Districts.
Pollinators such as bees,
butterflies, moths, beetles, hummingbirds, and bats can be considered heroes
because of the many ecosystem services they perform. Three-fourths of the
world’s flowering plants depend on pollinators to reproduce, and approximately
one in three mouthfuls of food and drink requires a pollinator for its
production. Pollinators contribute more than $24 billion to the US economy;
honey bees alone account for more than $15 billion. Mammals from voles to
grizzly bears depend on insect-pollinated fruits and seeds, and one-fourth of
all birds consume the fruits and seeds of plants that depend on animal
pollinators. Poll
inators themselves are an important part of the food web and
are eaten by animals such as birds, lizards, and spiders.
The Conservation Poster Contest is
an annual education initiative sponsored by local conservation districts with
state and national coordination. For more information about the Conservation
Poster Contest and other educational programs of the Richland SWCD, visit
www.rcgov.us/rswcd or contact Chanda Cooper at (803) 576-2084.
