POLLINATORS IN PERIL

 

Summer is a wonderful time of the year. The birds are singing, bees are buzzing and the pleasant aroma of flowers wafts the air. One of the main factors of this pleasant weather are the organisms known as pollinators present in our environment.

Pollinators, such as birds, bees, butterflies, bats, small mammals, etc., visit flowers to drink nectar and feed off of their pollen and transport the grains from one plant to another so as to start pollination. This allows the plant to reproduce and form seeds, berries, fruits and other plant food and is the beginning of a massive food chain. They also sustain our ecosystems and produce our natural resources by helping plants reproduce. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants

Pollinators assist with reproducing over 80% of the world’s flowering plants. 5% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. In the United States, pollination by honey bees contributed to over $19 billion of crops in 2010.

But recently we see a decrease in these pollinators across the globe. According to the research of the naturalists, they are on the verge of extinction which is a major cause of concern. Some major causes of this is habitat loss, fragmentation, disease and pesticides. The global warming crisis has also altered the seasonal behaviour of pollinators.

Climate change is causing bees to emerge at different times of the year when flowering plants have not yet emerged. Due to this, many bees die very quickly without their main food source. Monarch butterflies’ populations have decreased 90% in 20 years due to the loss of its main caterpillar home in milkweeds plants. Most other plant-eating insects also depend on specific types of plants for their survival, and most birds rely on those insects to feed their young. In addition to the insects, 16% of pollinating vertebrates like birds and bats are also in danger of a massive decline in population levels.

These pollinators are perilously under protected. Pollution, the misuse of chemicals, disease, and changes in climatic patterns are all contributing to shrinking and shifting pollinator populations. In some cases, there isn’t enough data to gauge a response, and this is even more worrisome.

Pollinators need help and we must help them for both of our betterment. P2 scientists and research partners that have been studying pollinators for over three decades have been able to show that conservation techniques work. If everyone – home owners, local governments, national governments, and private industry – made the effort we could change the future for pollinators and secure our own.

First of all, one must plant native flowering plants in their gardens as these are the plants they rely upon as their main food source. Secondly, one must avoid the use of pesticides as much as they can. Thirdly, one must fill a shallow birdbath with gravel and or water on top of it or create a muddy patch in the corner of your yard for pollinators as they are known to love water. Fourthly, plant the right plants on the right spots. Adding natural habitat areas into farm systems works. Farms that are closer to natural habitat produce more crop yield because they attract more pollinators.

Lastly, we all must spread the word about the importance of pollinators in our environment and how helping them would also help us. We should buy local honey and locally produced organic food so as to help and support the farmers and the beekeepers.

In conclusion, all the pollinators around the world are in desperate need of protection to safeguard their future. And these unique insects, and their pollination services, are vital to the survival of ecosystems. Our lives and culture would be significantly impoverished without these hardworking, underappreciated and declining animals. We need to take aggressive steps to better understand and protect our precious pollinator species before it is too late.