The well being of millions hinges on the pollination services provided by hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that support crops essential to human life. But ongoing habitat loss and pesticide use are shrinking these populations, triggering urgent alarms about our food future.
Across the globe, habitat destruction and chemical use are driving the decline of pollinating species. This trend threatens the services that sustain food production for billions of people and could push crop productivity costs higher as farmers seek solutions.
Two years ago an international team led by the University of Cambridge issued the first global risk index examining the causes and effects of pollinator declines across six world regions. The study, carried out with input from local representatives, was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Bees, butterflies, wasps, other insects, bats, flies, and hummingbirds disperse pollen, enabling more than 75 percent of food crops to multiply and supporting flowering plants such as coffee, rapeseed, and many fruits.
Experts warn that these tiny creatures play a vital role in world ecosystems and in the food systems that humans and other animals rely on. If pollinators vanished, serious problems would follow, says Lynn Dicks, a Cambridge University researcher.
extinction crisis
The research identifies three main drivers of pollinator loss: habitat destruction and land-use changes, including grazing, fertilizer use, and monoculture, plus broad pesticide applications. Climate change adds a fourth factor, though data on its impact remain limited.
A 2016 report that Dicks helped produce noted an astonishing rise in food production linked to pollinators, alongside an annual market value reaching hundreds of billions of dollars. The figure highlights how critical pollinators are to global food systems and economies.
The loss of biodiversity is seen as a major global risk to humans, threatening not only food security but also the aesthetic and cultural value of the planet.
Pollinators have inspired art, music, literature, and technology since early human history. The current extinction crisis is real, and many people perceive it as intangible. Some describe these species as a barometer of mass extinction, signaling broader ecological stress.
There is also a high risk of disappearance for managed pollinators introduced to improve crop yield and quality. In North America, where apples and almonds are prominent, hive populations have declined sharply due to disease and colony collapse.
sensitive areas
The impact of pollinator loss on wild plants and fruits is a serious threat in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and South America, areas where rural communities depend on wild foods. Latin America is particularly vulnerable because many communities rely on pollinated crops and native plants for sustenance and cultural practices.
Crops fertilized by insects such as cashews, soybeans, coffee, and cocoa are crucial to regional food supplies and international trade. Native populations also depend on pollinators and on pollinating species such as hummingbirds, which hold deep cultural and historical significance.
The Asia-Pacific region also faces significant risk, with China and India increasingly relying on fruit and vegetable crops that require pollination. Some crops now depend on manual pollination to maintain yields when pollinator populations decline.
Decline data in Europe
Researchers warn that knowledge about pollinator populations in the southern hemisphere remains limited. The clearest signals of decline come from data-rich regions such as Europe, where at least 37 percent of bee species and 31 percent of butterfly species show declines. The resulting loss of pollination and biodiversity poses risks to crops such as strawberries and rapeseed.
A co-author from the University of Reading notes that the study underscores gaps in understanding the global scale of pollinator declines and their societal impacts, especially in developing countries. The conclusion points to the need for broader international research to fully grasp the problems and explore effective solutions.
Reference work is available in the Nature journal with related details published in recent years.
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Environmental officials emphasize the importance of continued monitoring and protection strategies to safeguard pollinators and the services they provide to agriculture and ecosystems.