Insect Pollinators

Many insects drink nectar and collect pollen from flowers, and in the process they help plants reproduce. Readers will investigate how bees, butterflies, ants, and other insects assist in pollination. Simple text and supportive photos and diagrams help readers understand key ideas and details about this important science concept.

The second edition of this text on the significance of insect pollination of crops has been expanded to include new information on many crops, particularly tropical ones, and on the use of managed populations of bees, both colonial and solitary.

Take a detailed look at the lives of insect pollinators, their methods, and how their activities affect humans. This title supports NGSS standards for Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics.

The second edition of this text on the significance of insect pollination of crops has been expanded to include new information on many crops, particularly tropical ones, and on the use of managed populations of bees, both colonial and solitary.

Pollinators-insects, birds, bats, and other animals that carry pollen from the male to the female parts of flowers for plant reproduction-are an essential part of natural and agricultural ecosystems throughout North America. For example, most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops and some crops that provide fiber, drugs, and fuel depend on animals for pollination. This report provides evidence for the decline of some pollinator species in North America, including America's most important managed pollinator, the honey bee, as well as some butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds. For most managed and wild pollinator species, however, population trends have not been assessed because populations have not been monitored over time. In addition, for wild species with demonstrated declines, it is often difficult to determine the causes or consequences of their decline. This report outlines priorities for research and monitoring that are needed to improve information on the status of pollinators and establishes a framework for conservation and restoration of pollinator species and communities.

There is consensus that loss of biodiversity is a defining feature of the Anthropocene, with potentially severe consequences for human food security and well-being. Of particular concern are global declines in insect pollinators, such as bees, flies, beetles and butterflies, as their roles in sustaining ecosystem functions and ensuring food production are indispensable. A wide array of abiotic and biotic stressors likely govern the observed insect declines and losses of wild and managed insect pollinators, respectively. For instance, habitat destruction and fragmentation can not only lead to smaller and isolated populations that are vulnerable to environmental stochasticity or inbreeding depression, but also lead to poor nutrition as floral abundance and diversity are reduced. Further key stressors are pests and pathogens, climate change, intensified agriculture and environmental pollution (e.g., pesticides). These environmental stressors may interact with one another and generate complex effects that amplify the direct consequences of a single given stressor. Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge concerning how even the most important environmental stressors may interact to affect insect pollinators. The goal of this effort is to develop a platform that brings together the latest information on how abiotic and biotic stressors interact to impact insect pollinator health. Only by bringing together different lines of evidence will we be able to better predict how these environmental stressors will affect insect pollinators. An improved understanding will also facilitate the development of more effective and sustainable management strategies that will enable stakeholders to implement adequate and sustainable measures to safeguard insect pollinators. This Research Topic welcomes both Original Research and Reviews, as well as Commentary or Opinion articles that address the topic of environmental stressor interactions, and their impact on insect pollinator health. Submissions should be based on, but not limited to: - How combined environmental stressors affect insect pollinators using molecular, physiological, behavioral, ecological or evolutionary approaches - Experimental or survey work conducted under laboratory, semi-field, or field conditions - Unravelling the mechanisms underlying combined stressor interactions - What can be done to limit the impact of combined environmental exposure in the field

A unique and personal insight into the ecology and evolution of pollinators, their relationships with flowers, and their conservation in a rapidly changing world. The pollination of flowers by insects, birds and other animals is a fundamentally important ecological function that supports both the natural world and human society. Without pollinators to facilitate the sexual reproduction of plants, the world would be a biologically poorer place in which to live, there would be an impact on food security, and human health would suffer. Written by one of the world’s leading pollination ecologists, this book provides an introduction to what pollinators are, how their interactions with flowers have evolved, and the fundamental ecology of these relationships. It explores the pollination of wild and agricultural plants in a variety of habitats and contexts, including urban, rural and agricultural environments. The author also provides practical advice on how individuals and organisations can study, and support, pollinators. As well as covering the natural history of pollinators and flowers, the author discusses their cultural importance, and the ways in which pollinator conservation has been portrayed from a political perspective. The book draws on field work experiences in South America, Africa, Australia, the Canary Islands and the UK. For over 30 years the author has spent his career researching how plants and pollinators evolve relationships, how these interactions function ecologically, their importance for society, and how we can conserve them in a rapidly changing world. This book offers a unique and personal insight into the science of pollinators and pollination, aimed at anyone who is interested in understanding these fascinating and crucial ecological interactions.