Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

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Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

richardwinspear 24 Feb 2010, 10:19 AM

I have picked up the following comments from a birdwatchers forum discussing the best mixes to use on farms to attract birds (I have been impressed by the abundance of bees using phacelia, but has anyone noticed whether any other invertebrates feed from the flowers?):

" ...(A flowering plant component is) Good if attracts insects though, especially if they are food for chicks during the breeding season? Unfortunately I think Phacelia only attracts bees. The foliage is coarse, hairy stuff, and being non-native we have nothing adapted to benefit from it. Don't know of anything else that can use (it's) nectar or pollen.

...It grows very thick in a pure stand, so when used as green cover, e.g. on set-aside, cannot be utilized by ground nesting birds such as skylark. We have tried "skylark plots" in it (even before SAFFIE partners invented them) but it was no use.

So for birds, score 0; invertebrates 1/1000s.

OK as a small proportion of a mix."

Re: Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

Ian Gould 24 Feb 2010, 2:04 PM
Phacelia has a few benefits in mixes, but I must say that I agree with the questionable benefit that it delivers to wildlife on its own.

It can, at a low inclusion rate, be a very good nurse crop for plants such as Kale. The leaves are fern-like and they do allow a reasonable amount of daylight through to the plants underneath. It can also be mown / topped if it gets away too fast. It is not very tolerant of many herbicides so it can be quite easily dealt with if it becomes a "weed".

The other key benefit that we must acknowledge is that many growers like to see colourful, easy-to-grow elements in mixtures, so it gives them a sense of satisfaction in a "job well done". If this helps to encourage growers to take more of an interest and put more of these strips in, then that must be a good thing. It is easy to add too much Phacelia to a mix so great care should be taken.

Finally, being good for Bees is always a plus in my book.

I hope this is useful

Ian
www.oakbankgc.co.uk

Re: Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

Matthew 25 Feb 2010, 7:06 PM
Agree with Ian, but would also add that some farmers report it as being quite a useful pigeon deterrent if grown alongside kale - it's taller structure may deter their easy landing on the kale, though I haven't observed this myself in the field. It is also attractive to hoverflies, though species such as red clover are obviously better for some of the rarer 'long tongued' bumblebee species.

Matt

Re: Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

mike.mcdowall 04 Mar 2010, 2:44 PM
Hi Ian,

We have struggled to kill this in following crops with herbicides. Starane has some effect, but not complete. What do you find effective ?

Agree about the bees, and the low inclusion rate. However it should be possible to find native species with better environmental profile. On the other hand, if you want rid of slugs, grow pure phacelia !

BTW, most of what Richard quoted in the original query was from me.

Re: Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

Ian Gould 06 Mar 2010, 4:05 PM
Mike,
In our trials the most effective chemical that we used post-emergence was Ally (Metsulfuron). It gave good control, if not complete, in all the replicates.

Ian

Re: Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

mike.mcdowall 08 Mar 2010, 3:12 PM
Thanks Ian, will consider that. (I thought we had tried it !)

Mike.

Re: Is phacelia any good for wildlife?

emberiza 11 Mar 2010, 9:17 AM
Interesting views expressed on Phacelia.

From sweep net trials conducted by Bishop Burton students in Yorkshire on wild bird mixes containing Phacelia they consisitantly contained higher levels and diversity compared with comparission plots (standard 2 year EF2, differing annual EF2 plots and conventional cereal).

This was more than just Bombus species, indeed these crops contained ellevated numbers of lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Arachnida and Myriapoda.

In 2 year Kale based crops Pulmonata and Isopoda were significantly higher (as expected for Pulmonata).

Soldier Beetles (Cantharidae) were in high abundance in wild bird mixes containing phacelia.

As for the structure of the crop is has often attractive to ground nesting birds as it offers cover but does not hold onto the water. In fact it has been very attractive to Corn bunting for nesting.

A low rate is needed however!

Simon Tonkin
RSPB Farmland Conservation Officer
Eastern England Regional Office
Stalham House
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Norwich
Norfolk
NR1 1UD

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