Parallel Declines in Pollinators and Insect-Pollinated Plants in Britain and the Netherlands
SciencePublished 20 July 2006Open access
Jacobus C. Biesmeijer, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Menno Reemer, Ralf Ohlemüller, Mike Edwards, Theo Peeters
Citations3,158
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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.
Abstract
Despite widespread concern about declines in pollination services, little is known about the patterns of change in most pollinator assemblages. By studying bee and hoverfly assemblages in Britain and the Netherlands, we found evidence of declines (pre-versus post-1980) in local bee diversity in both countries; however, divergent trends were observed in hoverflies. Depending on the assemblage and location, pollinator declines were most frequent in habitat and flower specialists, in univoltine species, and/or in nonmigrants. In conjunction with this evidence, outcrossing plant species that are reliant on the declining pollinators have themselves declined relative to other plant species. Taken together, these findings strongly suggest a causal connection between local extinctions of functionally linked plant and pollinator species.
Keywords
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