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Pollinators
Today, possible declines in the health and population of pollinators pose
a significant threat to the integrity of biodiversity, to global
food webs, and to human health. Factors which could contribute to
declines include: improper use of pesticides and herbicides; habitat
fragmentation, loss, and degradation causing a reduction of food sources
and sites for mating, nesting, roosting, and migration; aggressive
competition from non-native species; disease, predators, and parasites;
climate change; and lack of floral diversity.
Some Examples:
- The number of commercially managed honeybee colonies in the
U.S. has declined from 5.9 million in the 1940’s
to 4.3 million in 1985 and 2.7 million in 1995
(Ingram et al., 1996 In Kearns et al., 1998).
Feral bees are essentially gone in the U.S. (Watanabe, 1994).
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At least 2 bat and 13 bird species listed in the United States
as endangered by the Fish and Wildlife Service are pollinators.
It remains unknown how many of the listed insects are pollinators
or how many listed plants require pollinators (Nabhan, 1996).
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At least 82 species of mammalian pollinators and 103 species
of avian pollinators are considered threatened or extinct according
to IUCN criteria (Nabhan, 1996).
Fortunately, the importance of pollinators has not gone unnoticed.
In recognition of the significance of a stable pollinator population
the Coevolution Institute collaborating with the
National Fish & Wildlife Foundation established the
North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) in 1999.
The importance of pollinator services to ecosystem and economic health
is well documented (Sobeich and Savignano, 2000):
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Animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of
flowering plants and one third of human food crops
(Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996;
Free, 1970 In Tepedino, 1979; and McGregor, 1976 In Tepedino, 1993).
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Domestic honeybees pollinate approximately $10 billion worth
of crops in the U.S. each year (Watanabe, 1994).
Bee poisonings from pesticides result in annual losses of $14.3 million
(Pimental et al., 1992 In Ingram et al., 1996a).
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Pollinators support biodiversity, as there is a positive correlation
between plant diversity and pollinator diversity (Heithaus, 1974
In Tepedino, 1979; Moldenke, 1975 In Tepedino, 1979;
del Moral and Standley, 1979 In Tepedino, 1979).
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The elimination, replacement or reduction of a specific species
of pollinator may result in the decline of a specific plant species,
which in turn may affect relative plant abundance, and hence community
dynamics
(Tepedino, 1979; Buchmann and Nabhan, 1966;
and USEPA, 1998b)
and impact wild animals and humans that depend on those
plants (Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996; and Kevan, 1977 In Allen-Wardell
et al., 1998).
It is essential that we actively conserve a diversity of pollinators
and sustain natural ecosystems in order to preserve the
quality of human and all other species of life.
Without a wide human constituency and broad effort to protect them,
pollinating species could irrevocably decline.
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An estimated one out of every three bites of food we eat comes
from a pollinator.
Contact Us
Send emails to
info@NAPPC.org
NAPPC
c/o The Coevolution Institute
423 Washington Street, 5th floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-2339
USA
Phone: 1-415-362-1137
Fax: 1-415-362-3070
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