WILDFLOWERS POLLINATORS-ATTRACTIVITY IN THE URBAN ECOSYSTEM

In order to increase biodiversity in the urban environment, several wildflower species were tested in terms of attractiveness towards pollinators. The species were selected on the basis of their mutualistic relation with pollinators, in terms of pollination biology. Plants with very showy flowers, like those belonging to the botanical families of Amaryllidaceae, Dipsacacee, Malvacee, Campanulacee, Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Ranunculaceae, Lamiaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Campanulaceae, were selected, grown in pots and tested in the urban environment to explore their potentiality to attract pollinators (bees, bumblebees, diptera and butterflies) in spite of the typically adverse life conditions of the urban environment. During the spring and summer months of the period 2006-2007, some observations were made on both wildflowers grown in the city and spontaneous plants of the same species in the natural environments, where the seeds of the studied species used were collected. The urban ecosystem tends to heavily limit the presence of pollinators, especially regard to the categories of butterflies and bumblebees, while solitary bees and diptera (especially Bombyliidae and Syrphydae) were more stable. In conclusion, in order to make the dynamics of wildflowers' survival sustainable over time, it is necessary to make pollinators' life possible in the city through the creation of environments for their breeding and of ecological corridors that can facilitate their entry into urban ecosystem.