Researchers Create Global Risk Index For Pollinator Decline

• A study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, unveiled that the populations of major pollinators — bees, butterflies, wasps, beetles, bats, flies, hummingbirds — are declining.
• The international study has also created the first global risk index across six global regions.
• Researchers have taken pollinator population data from a range of surveys and studies to detail declines across six geographical regions.

Key Findings:

• The pollinators distribute pollen that is very vital for the reproduction of over 75% of food crops and flowering plants.
• Crops dependent on pollinators fluctuate more in yield than, for example, cereals.
• Reduced species diversity was seen as a high-ranking global risk to humans, which not only risks food security.
• Losing access to “managed pollinators” is a serious risk in North America.
• Industrial beehives help pollinate important crops such as apples and almonds. These beehives have already suffered a decline from diseases.
• Also, fruit and vegetable crops of China and India reliant on pollinators may face the consequences of species decline.
• The impact of pollinator decline on wild plants and fruits was viewed a serious risk in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
• The major risks due to pollinator loss is crop pollination deficit that will led to falls in quantity and quality of food and biofuel crops.

The Major Global Causes of Pollinator Loss are

• Habitat destruction
• Land management - primarily the grazing
• Fertilizers and crop monoculture of farming
• Change in the cropping pattern and crops like the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and mono-cropping.
• widespread pesticide use
• Effect of climate change
• High environmental pollution from nitrogen and heavy metals.
• Growth of invasive alien species.

Pollination:

• When a pollen grain moves from the male part of a flower to the stigma (female part), pollination happens and it is the first step in a process that produces seeds, fruits, and the next generation of plants.
• This can happen through self-pollination, wind and water pollination or through pollinators.

Pollinators:

• A pollinator is anything that helps carry pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of the same or another flower.
• Birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, and most importantly, bees are pollinators.
• They visit flowers to drink nectar or feed off of pollen and transport pollen grains as they move from spot to spot.