What Can Be Done To Save Pollinators From Extinction?

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Don’t you love to watch the birds returning with the new spring season? They dart around, seeking out nests and planning for soon-to-bloom food sources. Birds — as well as bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals —  are pollinators, and they are responsible for out of every three bites of food we consume. They also sustain our ecosystems and produce our natural resources by helping plants reproduce.

Remember when you heard about the birds and the bees when you were a young child? There’s truth buried within those adult awkward conversations. Insect and other animal pollinators obtain food in the form of energy-rich nectar and/or protein-rich pollen, from the flowers they visit and, in return, the flowers receive the services of pollinators carrying pollen from one flower to another.

While food is often a sufficient lure for pollinators, flowering plants also attract pollinators using a combination of petal shapes, scents, and colors. “Pollination syndromes” have been described to depict the attraction of certain types, shapes, colors, and fragrances of flowers to a range of pollinators.

No longer is the natural cycle of the Earth able to sustain pollinators, however, as they face multiple threats that can impact their ability to thrive and survive. The Pollinator Partnership warns that many pollinator populations are threatened by habitat degradation and fragmentation. Pollution, pesticides, pests, pathogens, changes in land use, and climate change have all been associated with shrinking and shifting pollinator populations, particularly insect pollinators.

With increased awareness of the problems that pollinators face, you’d think that drastic changes would be legislated on a global scale to halt their decline. In fact, the opposite is actually the case.

What is pollination? Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma. The goal of every living organism, including plants, is to create offspring for the next generation. One of the ways that plants can produce offspring is by making seeds. Seeds contain the genetic information to produce a new plant. Seeds can only be produced when pollen is transferred between flowers of the same species.

What is the state of pollinators in North America? A pivotal new study led by NatureServe reveals that more than 22% of native pollinators in North America are at an elevated risk of extinction. This first-of-its-kind, taxonomically diverse assessment evaluated nearly 1,600 species — including bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, flower flies, bats, and hummingbirds — shedding light on the growing biodiversity crisis affecting ecosystems and food security. The study, titled “Elevated Extinction Risk in over One-Fifth of Native North American Pollinators,” includes results that can inform management actions to help prevent pollinator extinctions.

What are pollinators important to the food industry? Pollinators are vital for food production and ecosystem health, contributing over $15 billion annually to North American agriculture. Their decline threatens not only biodiversity but also the stability of food systems and human livelihoods. Without targeted conservation actions, the loss of pollinators could have cascading effects on plant reproduction, wildlife populations and ecosystem services.

What new data has emerged from the NatureServe study about threats to pollinators?

• One in five pollinators at risk: 22.6% of assessed species face elevated extinction risk, underscoring an urgent need for conservation.
• Bees most threatened: 34.7% of assessed native bee species are at risk, particularly leafcutter and digger bees, which face the highest levels of imperilment.
• Bats vs. hummingbirds: All three pollinating bat species are at risk, while all hummingbirds were found to be at low extinction risk.
• Geographic hotspots: The highest concentrations of at-risk species are found in the American Southwest correlating with high species richness and climate-related stressors.
• Primary threats: Climate change, agriculture, habitat loss, and urban development are the leading threats, varying regionally across North America.

What actions need to be taken to protect pollinators from further threats?

• For policymakers: Integrate at-risk pollinators into State Wildlife Action Plans and other conservation and management strategies to secure funding and protections.
• For land managers: Prioritize the conservation of habitats like grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands that support the most at-risk pollinator communities. Implement best practices to reduce threats from agriculture, urban development and climate change.
• For the public: Support pollinator-friendly practices such as reducing pesticide use, planting native flowers and creating habitats that provide food and shelter for pollinators year-round.

A Focus On Florida: How Friendly Is The State To Pollinators?

Study co-author Jaret Daniels, curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, recently participated in a Q&A to help unpack the findings about the current state of pollinators. Here are some highlights.

Daniels notes that Florida’s rich plant diversity “begets insect diversity,” but Florida also has a significant downside due to its heavy urbanization.

“The remaining natural areas that we have not been conserved are increasingly at threat” as a result, says Daniels. “We no longer have the luxury of saying only conservation spaces matter.”

Species loss is increasing even though parks and natural areas are still protected areas within cities and towns. Rethinking landscapes must extend, Daniels suggests, “to roadsides, to utility easements, to agricultural landscapes. We can work to tweak how all of these environments are designed and managed to better support a diversity of wildlife.”

Starting points to recovering pollinators can be to reduce turf area, diversify the landscape, increase floral resources, and increase the number of native plants. Addressing these recovery points would be a “win/win situation for pollinators and people,” according to Daniels.

• It reduces the amount of water needed for landscaping, because native plants tend to be more drought tolerant and adapted to the soil and climate where they naturally occur.
• Native plants also tend to have fewer pest problems, so the amount of pesticides needed can be reduced.
• When pesticides are reduced, non-target impacts to beneficial insects such as pollinators are also reduced.
• A building’s curb appeal increases due to the addition of color and interest.
• A native landscape attracts wildlife and keeps people engaged with the natural world.

Introducing more native plants can become a model for an entire neighborhood, says Daniels, so that “maybe you get your neighbor excited to do something, and you build out a more connected suite of landscapes across an urban or suburban area that then allows species to move through that matrix of previously unsuitable habitat.”

When people realize how native species attract pollinators, he adds, “it blows people away to see the things that are actually in their neighborhood that they can also attract. The end result is building more vibrant spaces for both humans and wildlife to coexist.”