{"id":36680,"date":"2026-09-12T06:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T10:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=36680"},"modified":"2026-09-11T11:19:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T15:19:52","slug":"two-minnesota-solar-farms-turned-the-ground-beneath-their-panels-into-habitat-and-native-bee-abundance-rose-more-than-20-fold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/two-minnesota-solar-farms-turned-the-ground-beneath-their-panels-into-habitat-and-native-bee-abundance-rose-more-than-20-fold\/36680\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Minnesota solar farms turned the ground beneath their panels into habitat, and native bee abundance rose more than 20-fold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two solar farms in southern Minnesota planted native grasses and wildflowers beneath their panels. The results became clear over time. During a five-year study<\/a>, the number of insects at the sites tripled, and native bees increased more than 20 times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits reached beyond the solar farms. Bees from the restored habitat were also found pollinating soybeans in surrounding fields. This indicates that solar sites may benefit nearby farms<\/a> if the area below the panels is managed as wildlife habitat<\/a>. The panels themselves were nothing new. The real difference came from the plants that were growing below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Native
ative grasses and wildflowers grow among solar panels in Minnesota, showing how the land beneath solar arrays can also provide pollinator habitat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An ignored ground below solar panels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The study was carried out at the Atwater and Eastwood solar farms. They were both built in 2017 on fields where row crops had been grown for decades. The two Enel Green Power North America<\/a> sites cover about 77 acres, Atwater produces 4 megawatts and Eastwood 5.5 megawatts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: Two Minnesota solar farms turned the ground beneath their panels into habitat, and native bee abundance rose more than 20-fold<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Once they finished the construction, crews planted native grasses and wildflowers<\/a> in both sites. More mixtures of seeds were tested in selected plots in 2018. Given the fact that the plants flowered at different times, bees and other insects could find food from spring until late summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting the seeds was just the first step. Workers then mowed the land as needed and controlled invasive weeds. Researchers also visited the sites several times between August 2018 and August 2022, observing and recording the insects found there during 358 walks along the same studied paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sudden buzzing habitat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first year seemed very quiet. The sites changed significantly over the period of four years. On average, they supported seven times more flowering plant species and three times more beneficial insects. The variety of insects also grew by approximately 13 percent each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beetles, flies, and moths were the biggest groups in quantity, but native bees<\/a> showed the biggest change. During this study, researchers counted 729 native bees, and more than 80 percent of those observations were recorded after the second year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the native bees were sweat bees and furrow bees from the Halictidae family. On the other hand, bumblebees accounted for about one-fifth of native bee observations. This means that patience was very important here. A site with just a few bees at first started changing quickly after the native plants matured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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