Post #3894629

2026-07-17 20:30 UTC

Here is some rare good news: when you pair solar panels with the planting of native flora around those panels, you get a restoration of insect populations AND commensurate befits to nearby agriculture, in a addition to carbon-free electricity generation: “We found increases over time for all habitat and biodiversity metrics: floral rank, flowering plant species richness, insect group diversity, native bee abundance, and total insect abundance, with the most noticeable temporal increases in native bee abundance. We also found positive effects of proximity to solar-pollinator habitat on bee visitation to nearby soybean (Glycine max) fields.” https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0f72

Replies (2)

@cohentheblue@ohai.social 2026-07-17 21:38

@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social Native flora is native because it does not need planting. Just maybe throw a few clumps of sod with overdeveloped roots in them every few meters. That gets more of those plants started and it'll all grow right in in a few years, in the leadup years there'll be plants that are needed to enrich the top soil with missing nutrients from deeper soil.

Open ##4330470
@desirable_dialogue@ni.hil.ist 2026-07-18 09:43

@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social yes, but depending on the panels used aquatic insects are at risk. "although solar panels can act as ecological traps, fragmenting their solar-active area does lessen their attractiveness to polarotactic insects.” So panels with visible stripes are preferable over the one colored ones.

Open ##4330471