Tuesday, June 11, 2013

All the Buzz: the Importance of Pollinators to our Food Supply

Pollinators come in several shapes and sizes, although the most-well known are the several varieties of bees and butterflies we encounter during warm weather. Plants depend on pollinators to fertilize them and spread their seeds. Without their hard work about one-third of our food supply would be drastically affected.

According to the EPA and Agriculture Department, honey bee colonies have been dying and the number of colonies has more than halved since 1947. This decline has increasingly been reported in the news (here, here, and here for examples); scientists have dedicated careers to studying its causes (like the Xerces Society); and it has even gotten attention on Capitol Hill. The problem of disappearing pollinators isn't one that can be solved by a "silver bullet" solution, though, as the known causes of the decline are numerous. This list is in no particular order:

  • Improper and over-use of pesticides and herbicides
  • Parasites
  • Reduced habitat
  • Climate change
  • Limited genetic diversity in American bees leaves them weaker to variations in their environment (EPA)
  • Competition to native plant species from invasive ones
  • Lack of floral diversity
As an aside, domesticated bee colony numbers are on the rise (source).

Agricultural producers are very aware of the decline of pollinators - especially bees. Inputs such as pesticides, combined with limited ecological diversity and crop rotation, contribute to the decline of pollinators. Producers and conservationists combat this by using ag practices that improve biodiversity and pollinator habitat on their farms, plant cover crops, rotate their cash crops, use practices that reduce the need for pesticide and herbicide applications, and more. Read more about what farmers can do to help pollinators.

Landowners can promote pollinator habitat and survival through several practices. Planting flowering native plants, reducing or outright declining to use pesticides and herbicides, and creating nesting areas through leaving patches of ground bare, installing nesting blocks, and planting caterpillar host plants. Learn more from the Xerces Society.

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