Journal ArticleDOI
How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals
TLDR
The global number and proportion of animal pollinated angiosperms is estimated as 308 006, which is 87.5% of the estimated species-level diversity of fl owering plants.Abstract:
It is clear that the majority of fl owering plants are pollinated by insects and other animals, with a minority utilising abiotic pollen vectors, mainly wind. However there is no accurate published calculation of the proportion of the ca 352 000 species of angiosperms that interact with pollinators. Widely cited fi gures range from 67% to 96% but these have not been based on fi rm data. We estimated the number and proportion of fl owering plants that are pollinated by animals using published and unpublished community-level surveys of plant pollination systems that recorded whether each species present was pollinated by animals or wind. Th e proportion of animal-pollinated species rises from a mean of 78% in temperate-zone communities to 94% in tropical communities. By correcting for the latitudinal diversity trend in fl owering plants, we estimate the global number and proportion of animal pollinated angiosperms as 308 006, which is 87.5% of the estimated species-level diversity of fl owering plants. Given current concerns about the decline in pollinators and the possible resulting impacts on both natural communities and agricultural crops, such estimates are vital to both ecologists and policy makers. Further research is required to assess in detail the absolute dependency of these plants on their pollinators, and how this varies with latitude and community type, but there is no doubt that plant – pollinator interactions play a signifi cant role in maintaining the functional integrity of most terrestrial ecosystems. Plant – pollinator relationships may be one of the most ecologically important classes of animal – plant interaction: without pollinators, many plants could not set seed and reproduce; and without plants to provide pollen, nectar and other rewards, many animal populations would decline, with consequent knock-on eff ects for other species (Kearns et al.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas.
Caspar A. Hallmann,Martin Sorg,Eelke Jongejans,Henk Siepel,Nick Hofland,Heinz Schwan,Werner Stenmans,Andreas Müller,Hubert Sumser,Thomas Hörren,Dave Goulson,Hans de Kroon +11 more
TL;DR: This analysis estimates a seasonal decline of 76%, and mid-summer decline of 82% in flying insect biomass over the 27 years of study, and shows that this decline is apparent regardless of habitat type, while changes in weather, land use, and habitat characteristics cannot explain this overall decline.
Journal ArticleDOI
Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive review of 73 historical reports of insect declines from across the globe, and systematically assess the underlying drivers of insect extinction, reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the world's insect species over the next few decades.
Journal ArticleDOI
Safeguarding pollinators and their values to human well-being
Simon G. Potts,Vera Lúcia Imperatriz-Fonseca,Hien T. Ngo,Marcelo A. Aizen,Jacobus C. Biesmeijer,Jacobus C. Biesmeijer,Tom D. Breeze,Lynn V. Dicks,Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi,Rosemary Hill,Josef Settele,Adam J. Vanbergen +11 more
TL;DR: There are well-documented declines in some wild and managed pollinators in several regions of the world, however, many effective policy and management responses can be implemented to safeguard pollinators and sustain pollination services.
Journal ArticleDOI
Threats to an ecosystem service: pressures on pollinators
TL;DR: It is argued that multiple anthropogenic pressures – including land-use intensification, climate change, and the spread of alien species and diseases – are primarily responsible for insect-pollinator declines.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plant-Pollinator Interactions over 120 Years: Loss of Species, Co-Occurrence and Function
TL;DR: Using historic data sets, the degree to which global change over 120 years disrupted plant-pollinator interactions in a temperate forest understory community in Illinois, USA is quantified and it is suggested that networks will be less resilient to future changes.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops
Alexandra-Maria Klein,Bernard E. Vaissière,James H. Cane,Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter,Saul A. Cunningham,Claire Kremen,Teja Tscharntke +6 more
TL;DR: It is found that fruit, vegetable or seed production from 87 of the leading global food crops is dependent upon animal pollination, while 28 crops do not rely upon animalPollination, however, global production volumes give a contrasting perspective.
Journal ArticleDOI
Parallel Declines in Pollinators and Insect-Pollinated Plants in Britain and the Netherlands
Jacobus C. Biesmeijer,Stuart P. M. Roberts,Menno Reemer,Ralf Ohlemüller,Michael Edwards,T.M.J. Peeters,T.M.J. Peeters,A. P. Schaffers,Simon G. Potts,R.M.J.C. Kleukers,Chris D. Thomas,Josef Settele,William E. Kunin +12 more
TL;DR: Evidence of declines (pre-versus post-1980) in local bee diversity in Britain and the Netherlands is found and a causal connection between local extinctions of functionally linked plant and pollinator species is strongly suggested.
Journal ArticleDOI
Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assessed the economic consequences of pollinator decline by measuring the contribution of insect pollination to the world agricultural output economic value, and the vulnerability of world agriculture in the face of the decline of pollinators.
Journal ArticleDOI
ENDANGERED MUTUALISMS: The Conservation of Plant-Pollinator Interactions
TL;DR: Recent declines in honeybee numbers in the United States and Europe bring home the importance of healthy pollination systems, and the need to further develop native bees and other animals as crop pollinators.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the Generality of the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient
TL;DR: This analysis is the first to describe these general and significant patterns, which have important consequences for models aiming to explain the latitudinal gradient, which were weaker and less steep in freshwater than in marine or terrestrial environments and differed significantly between continents and habitat types.
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