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Coffee, cocoa, and pollinators

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Multiple forces have been at play that have been detrimental to pollinators including climate change, land use change, pesticide use, and more.  There have been substantial declines in both the abundance and diversity of insect pollinators.  There is increasing public awareness of this issue, but it hasn’t really risen all that high among many people’s concerns.

A new study by University College London looked at the effects of the global decline in pollinators on thousands of crop-growing sites around the world involving thousands of insect pollinator species.

About 75% of all crops grown depend on pollinators to some degree.  The UCL research created a model that looks at which pollination dependent crops are most threatened over the next 30 years in order to provide a warning to both the agricultural and conservation communities.

The research indicates that the tropics are likely to be most at risk with regard to reduced crop production caused by pollinator losses.  This is mostly due to the interaction of climate change and land use.  The risks are highest in sub-Saharan Africa, northern South America, and southeast Asia.

These areas are where the world gets most of its coffee and cocoa, two crops that are near and dear to most of us.  These crops, as well as others such as mangoes, play vital roles in both local economies and global trade and reducing them could lead to increased income insecurity for millions of small-scale farmers in these tropical regions.

If pollinator loss isn’t high up on your list of global concerns, perhaps you should think about it next time you have a cup of coffee or enjoy some chocolate.

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Coffee and cocoa plants at risk from pollinator loss

Photo, posted May 23, 2013, courtesy of McKay Savage via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Banning Neonicotinoid Pesticides | Earth Wise

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New York’s Birds and Bees Protection Act contains a targeted restriction on neonicotinoid pesticides. These widely-used insecticides are absorbed by plants and can be present in pollen and nectar, making them toxic to bees and other pollinators.

Among the largest applications of neonics (as they are called) has been in the form of coatings on crop seeds, such as corn and soybeans.  In 2019, Canada’s Quebec province strongly limited neonic use to protect pollinators and the environment.  The chemical industry vigorously protested the regulations and claimed that the restrictions would cause the collapse of the grain sector in Quebec.

Seed suppliers began supplying uncoated seeds in 2019 and now there is scarcely any use of coated seeds in the province.  Monitoring of over 1,000 agricultural sites has shown that there have been no crop failures related to the pesticide restrictions.  In fact, use of the neonics had no economic benefits. 

Naysayers warned that even more harmful pesticides or other farming practices would be used instead.  But that hasn’t happened either. Some farmers switched to much safer insecticides and others abandoned insecticide treatments altogether.

New York has faced similar opposition by farmers and chemical manufacturers to the Birds and Bees Protection Act and all of the same arguments that have been proven to be invalid in Quebec are being made in New York.  Most major environmental advocates in the state support the measures embodied in the legislation.  As usual, it boils down to a battle between economic interests and the health of the environment.

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Québec’s experience with pesticide ban offers a glimpse of what New York can expect

Photo, posted August 29, 2013, courtesy of the United Soybean Board / the Soybean Checkoff via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

How To Support Pollinators | Earth Wise

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Pollinators of all sorts have been in decline for a while.  This is especially true of bees, bats, and monarch butterflies.  Without pollinators, fruits, vegetables, and other plants cannot provide their contributions to our food supply.  According to experts, about 30% of the food that ends up on our tables gets there because of pollinators.

Bees are the most efficient pollinators, but plenty of other insects do their share as well.  Butterflies and months, flies, beetles, and wasps all are good pollinators.  In addition to insects, birds and bats can also be pollinators. 

Entomologists at Texas A&M University have offered some science-based advice for homeowners who want to keep pollinators around and thriving during the summer months.

Pollinators need flowers that bloom at different times of the year.  So, home gardens should overlap blooms.  Native and drought-tolerant species are good additions to a garden or landscape.

Colorful gardens attract more pollinators because different pollinators are attracted to different colors.  Bumblebees like blues and purples; other bees are attracted to yellows and whites.  Butterflies like bright colors like oranges and pinks.

Plant flowers with different shapes and sizes because pollinators flower preferences come in all shapes and sizes.

Provide shelter for pollinators.  Houses for bees and other pollinators are available for purchase. Or people can make their own using plastic tubes.

And probably most importantly, go easy on pesticides.  If it is really necessary to apply pesticides, do it in the evening when most pollinators have called it a day.

Having a colorful garden with lots of variety is a fine addition to one’s home.  Beyond that, it is a valuable contribution to helping preserve essential pollinators.

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Top Five Tips For Supporting Pollinators This Summer

Photo, posted August 14, 2017, courtesy of USFWS Midwest Region via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Why Are Insect Populations Declining? | Earth Wise

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The world is experiencing a decline in overall insect populations as well as a collapse in insect diversity.  A recent special issue of the journal Biology Letters discusses the major causes of this alarming trend.

According to the study, the primary causes of the worldwide decline in insect biomass are land-use intensification in the form of greater utilization for agriculture and building development, climate change, and the spread of invasive animal species as a result of human trade.

The study concludes that it is not just these factors that are driving the global disappearance of insects, but also that these three factors are interacting with each other.  For example, ecosystems that are deteriorated by humans are more susceptible to climate change and so are their insect communities.  Similarly, invasive species can establish themselves more easily in habitats damaged by human land-use and displace native species.  Many native insect species decline or go extinct while others – often invasive species – thrive and increase, leading to decreasing insect diversity.  Warming temperatures are making many locations undesirable for various insect species and they often cannot migrate to anyplace better.

Declining insect populations and diversity results in concomitant declines in plant species that depend on pollinators.  This in turn threatens the stability of entire ecosystems.

The researchers advocate for continued monitoring of insect diversity across many habitats and countries and propose the creation of a network of interconnected nature reserves such that species can move from one to another. 

We often think of insects as pests, but they are a crucial part of the world’s ecosystems.

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The reasons why insect numbers are decreasing

Photo, posted April 17, 2011, courtesy of Dean Morley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Caterpillars And Light Pollution | Earth Wise

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Most of us are familiar with air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, and even noise pollution.  But it turns out that light can be a pollutant as well, and it’s a consequence of industrial civilization.  In fact, nighttime light pollution now covers approximately 23% of the globe and over 80% of inhabited regions. 

Light pollution affects more than just our view of the stars.  For example, light pollution can alter our circadian rhythm, disrupting our sleep cycle.  In nature, light pollution can kill baby turtles by causing them to head inland instead of into the ocean, can cause birds to migrate during the wrong season, and can deter nighttime pollinators like bats.  And those are just a few of the examples.    

According to new research from scientists at Cornell University, moderate levels of artificial light at night – like a porch light – attract caterpillar predators and reduce the chance that caterpillars grow up to become moths. 

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the researchers placed 552 lifelike caterpillar replicas made of soft clay in a forest to measure predation rates compared to a control group.  They found that predation rates on clay caterpillars and the abundance of arthropod predators were significantly higher on the artificial light at night treatment plots.  In fact, of the 552 clay caterpillars deployed and glued to leaves to look authentic, 521 models were recovered and 249 of them- or 47.8% – showed predatory marks from arthropods during the summer-long nighttime study.

In addition to light pollution, caterpillars also face major threats from habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.

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Artificial light at night aids caterpillar predators

Photo, posted July 23, 2020, courtesy of Judy Gallagher via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Spiders And Pest Control | Earth Wise

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Climate change facilitates the spread of invasive pest species by expanding their habitable environment ranges.  In conventional agriculture, farmers depend on chemical pesticides to control agricultural pests.  But 99% of all synthetic chemicals, including pesticides, are made from fossil fuels, and turning petrochemicals into pesticides requires massive amounts of energy.  These chemical pesticides also pollute the air and water, and destroy biodiversity by killing many non-target species as well.  

According to new research led by scientists from the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., groups of spiders could be used as an environmentally-friendly way to protect crops against agricultural pests.  The study, which was recently published in the journal Insects, suggests that web-building groups of spiders can be used to control populations of the tomato leafminer moth, a devastating pest of commercially important crops like tomatoes and potatoes.

The research team explored the use of tropical tent spiders for this pest control.  They are found in colonies around the world, and their range overlaps with regions of moth infestations, including Mediterranean Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

In lab settings, different types of prey were introduced to colonies of spiders of varying body sizes.  The research team found that the larger spiders built larger webs and caught more prey, including tomato leafminer moths and fruit flies.   

Tropical tent spiders could be an effective and climate-friendly way to control flying insect pests.  However, more research is needed to ensure that these spiders don’t negatively impact crop pollination by also catching pollinators.

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Using spiders as environmentally-friendly pest control

Photo, posted June 10, 2018, courtesy of Lies Van Rompaey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Vaccine For Bees | Earth Wise

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The US has seen annual reductions in honey bee colonies since 2006.  According to the USDA, there are many factors that have contributed to the decline.  These include parasites, pests, insecticides, disease, and a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder in which worker bees abandon a hive and leave behind the queen.

One of major threats to bee colonies is American foulbrood disease, which is a bacterial condition that attacks bee larvae.  It is highly contagious and has no cure.  Until now, the only treatment method required burning the colony of infected bees along with the hives and equipment and treating nearby bee colonies with antibiotics.

Recently, the USDA has approved a conditional license for the world’s first vaccine for honey bees.  The vaccine contains inactive bacteria of the type that causes American foulbrood disease.

The vaccine is incorporated into the royal jelly fed by worker bees to the queen bee.  The queen ingests the feed and keeps some of vaccine in her ovaries.  This gives bee larvae immunity to the disease as they hatch and thereby reduces death from the illness.

According to the California State Beekeepers Association, the new vaccine could be a major breakthrough for protecting bees.  Preventing the infection in hives could avoid costly, destructive measures and allow the beekeepers to focus on other important elements of keeping bees healthy.

Bees as pollinators play a critical role in many ecosystems.  For humankind, pollinators such as bees, birds, and bats are responsible for about a third of the world’s crop production.

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US approves world’s first vaccine for declining honey bees

Photo, posted June 6, 2022, courtesy of Bernd Thaller via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Examining The Decline Of Honey Bees | Earth Wise

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For many years, scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators.  Many of the invertebrate pollinator species, such as bees and butterflies, are facing extinction. And since 75% of the world’s food crops depend on pollination to some extent, the decline of pollinators poses a major threat to global food security.

Honey bees are among the struggling pollinators.  Over the past 14 years, bee colonies have been disappearing at an alarming rate in what is known as the “colony collapse disorder.” 

In an effort to understand why, scientists have often focused their research on environmental stressors, such as parasites, pesticides, and disease.  But according to new research by entomologists from the University of Maryland, honey bee life spans are simply 50% shorter today than they were 50 years ago.  In the study, which was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers found that honey bees kept in a controlled, laboratory environment lived half as long as honey bees did in the 1970s.  This is the first study to show that genetics – as opposed to environmental stressors – may be influencing the broader trends seen in the beekeeping industry.

When the researchers modeled the effect of their findings on a beekeeping operation, they found that the resulting loss rates were about 33%.  This is similar to the average overwinter and annual loss rates reported by beekeepers during the past 14 years.

The next step is for researchers to compare trends in honey bee life spans across the U.S. and in other countries to see if there are differences in bee longevity. 

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Honey Bee Lifespans are 50% Shorter Today Than They Were 50 Years Ago

Helping Agriculture’s Helpful Honey Bees

Photo, posted June 23, 2007, courtesy of Susan E. Ellis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Bumblebees And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Pollinators, such as bees and bats, are vital for global food production.  They provide an ecological service that’s necessary for the reproduction of nearly 75% of the world’s flowering plants, including more than two-thirds of global food crops.

Bumblebees are among the most important plant pollinators.  They pollinate many food crops, including apples, tomatoes, blueberries and legumes, as well as countless types of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.

According to a new study by researchers from Simon Fraser University in Canada, temperature changes have negatively impacted most bumblebee species during the past 120 years.  The research, which was recently published in the journal Biology Letters, found that these changes in temperature had more of a negative impact than other factors such as precipitation or floral resources. 

The research team analyzed existing data on 46 bumblebee species across North America between 1900 and 2020.  The researchers created two occupancy models – one that was focused on time and the other that focused on environmental factors – to see how climate change and land-use variables impacted species’ occupancy.  They found that six bumblebee species decreased through time, 22 increased, and 18 remained stable.

Temperature changes had primarily negative impacts on bumblebees.  In fact, 37 of the 46 species studied exhibited declines or less positive occupancy increases under observed changes in temperature when compared with temperatures remaining constant.  Approximately half of the bumblebee species were negatively impacted by changes in precipitation or floral resources while the other half were positively impacted.

Bumblebee populations are changing as a consequence of climate change. 

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The American Bumblebee

Climate change negatively impacting bumble bees: Study

Photo, posted July 14, 2019, courtesy of Dmitry Grigoriev via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Plight Of Monarch Butterflies | Earth Wise

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The monarch butterfly is one of the world’s best-known butterflies and has become the symbol for a whole class of imperiled pollinators.  Populations of the iconic orange-and-black insects have declined dramatically in recent decades. 

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the eastern monarch population has dropped 88% between 1996 and 2020.  Habitat loss, pesticide use, and global climate change are some of the factors driving monarch butterfly population declines. 

According to a new study led by scientists at Emory University, monarch butterflies are also increasingly plagued by a debilitating parasite.  The study, which was recently published in The Journal of Animal Ecology, reviewed 50 years of data on the infection rate of wild monarch butterflies by the protozoan Ophryocystis elektrosirrha (or O.E.).  The research team found that the O.E. infection rate had increased from less than 1% of the eastern monarch population in 1968 to as much as 10% today.

The O.E. parasite invades the gut of monarch caterpillars.  If the adult butterfly leaves the pupal stage with a severe parasitic infection, it begins oozing fluids from its body and dies. If the infection is lighter and the butterfly survives, it will not fly as well or live as long as uninfected butterflies.  

The study found that one of the contributors to the rise in parasitism is the increased density of monarchs in places where they lay their eggs.  The increased density may be due to several factors, including the loss of habitat, the widespread planting of non-native milkweed, and by people raising large numbers of monarchs in confined spaces. 

If the infection rate continues to increase, monarch butterfly populations will likely continue to plummet. 

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Monarch butterflies increasingly plagued by parasites

Plight of the Monarch

Saving The Monarch Butterfly

Photo, posted September 18, 2008, courtesy of Roy Niswanger via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Perennials To Attract Pollinators | Earth Wise

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There has been a decline in the abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide that began being observed at the end of the 20th century.  Pollinators and their health have become growing concerns for the public and many states have enacted legislation related to pollinator decline.

In many places, the pollinator decline has largely been driven by a loss of flowering plants in the landscape, the primary source of food for the pollinators.  A new study by Penn State researchers looked at the attractiveness to pollinators of various species of perennial flowering plants that people can plant in their gardens and other landscapes.

It turns out that there is considerable variation in how attractive different flowering plants are to pollinators.  Greenspaces such as parks and gardens have the potential to support very rich pollinator communities, even including rare or vulnerable species.

People generally select ornamental plants because of their appearance and growth habit, not because of their pollinator attraction.

The Penn State study looked at a variety of perennials and identified the most attractive plant cultivars, which can attract 4 times the number of pollinator species than the least attractive plants studied.

The most appealing plant is the ‘Blue Fortune’ giant hyssop.  Other highly attractive plants are the anise hyssop, the ‘Black Adder’ Agastache, the Cat’s Meow and Walker’s Low Nepetas, and the Triloba and Herbstonne Rudbeckias.

Many of these plants produce large floral displays and the researchers suggest that they should be prioritized when planting a pollinator garden amongst other species with comparably small floral displays and lower attractiveness to pollinators.

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Popular perennial flowering plants can attract diverse mix of pollinators

Photo, posted September 7, 2019, courtesy of KM via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Protecting Bees From Pesticides | Earth Wise

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Studies have shown that the wax and pollen in 98% of beehives in the U.S. are contaminated with an average of six pesticides.  These substances lower bees’ immunity to devastating varroa mites and other pathogens.  By some estimates, pesticides cause beekeepers to lose about a third of their hives every year on average.

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a new technology that effectively protects bees from insecticides.  The insecticide antidote delivery method is now the basis of a new company called Beemunity.

The Cornell researchers developed a uniform pollen-sized microparticle filled with enzymes that detoxify organophosphate insecticides before they are absorbed and can harm bees.  Organophosphate insecticides account for about a third of the insecticides on the market.  The microparticles have a protective casing that allows the enzymes to move past the bees’ crop (basically the stomach), which is acidic and would otherwise break them down.  The safeguarded enzymes then enter the midgut, where digestion occurs and where toxins and nutrients are absorbed.  There the enzymes act to break down and detoxify the organophosphate insecticides.

In experimental tests, bees that were fed the enzyme-filled microparticles had a 100% survival rate after exposure to the insecticide malathion.  Unprotected control bees died within days.

The Cornell work appears to represent a low-cost, scalable solution to the insecticide toxicity issue and may help to protect essential pollinators.

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Pollen-sized technology protects bees from deadly insecticides

Photo, posted January 30, 2020, courtesy of George Tan via Flick.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Residential Gardens And Pollinators | Earth Wise

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A new study led by the University of Bristol in the UK measured for the first time how much nectar is produced in urban areas to gauge the role of residential gardens in providing nutrients for pollinators.  They discovered that home gardens accounted for the vast majority of the crucial nutrients for pollinators; in fact, some 85% on average.

The study found that gardens generated a daily average of about a teaspoon of the unique sugar-rich liquid found in flowers which pollinators drink for energy.  A teaspoon sounds like very little, but it is enough to feed thousands of bees.

The research examined nectar production in four major UK towns and cities and measured nectar production in nearly 200 species of plants.  The results were that the nectar supply in urban landscapes is more diverse than in farmland and nature reserves.   In addition, gardens are critical because they produce the most nectar per unit area of land and actually cover the largest area of land in the cities studied.  In those cities, nearly a third of the land comprised domestic gardens, which is six times the area of parks and 40 times the area of small green allotments.

The upshot of the research is that home gardeners have a huge role to play in pollinator conservation.  Without domestic gardens, there would be far less food for pollinators that include bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, and beetles.  Thus, it is important for home gardeners to keep planting nectar-rich flowers, mow lawns less often to let dandelions, clovers, and daisies flourish, avoid harmful pesticides, and avoid covering gardens in paving, decking, or artificial turf.

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Pioneering research reveals gardens are secret powerhouse for pollinators

Photo, posted June 23, 2018, courtesy of Wolfferl via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Not Enough Buzz For Bees | Earth Wise

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The dramatic worldwide decline in bees and other pollinating insects represents a serious threat to the global food supply, but it isn’t really getting much attention in the mainstream news.  Close to 75% of the world’s crops for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators for sustained production, yield, and quality.

A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked at nearly 25 million news items from six prominent sources, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, as well as three overseas English-language news services.  The study found “vanishingly low levels of attention to pollinator population topics”, even compared with what many people consider to be the limited coverage of climate change.

The study made use of the Global News Index, which is a unique database of millions of news items from thousands of global sources published over decades.  It may be the largest academic study of the evolving nature of news coverage ever performed.

Even though the entomological community is highly focused on the impending pollinator crisis, the public is not paying much attention.  It is not even indifference; it is just that people don’t even know about it.

The majority of studies on pollinator decline have been done in Europe and North America, which means we don’t even know how serious the problem is given that most insect biodiversity is in the tropics.

Public awareness is important because individuals can make a difference by their decisions about what flowers to plant in their gardens, which weeds to tolerate in their yards, and how to manage insect pests.

The loss of pollinators is a very serious problem, and it is not likely to get enough attention if people don’t know about it.

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Pollinators not getting the ‘buzz’ they need in news coverage

Photo, posted December 28, 2006, courtesy of Alpha via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Europe’s Green Deal: Bad For The Planet? | Earth Wise

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In 2019, the European Union announced the “Green Deal,” a comprehensive program aimed at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, implementing environmentally friendly transport, increasing recycling, and expanding renewable energy.

The Green Deal involves significant changes to European agriculture.  Over the next ten years, under the ambitious environmental program, at least a quarter of all agricultural areas will be farmed organically, the use of fertilizers and pesticides greatly reduced, 3 billion trees planted, 15,000 miles of rivers restored, and the population declines of pollinators reversed.

However, in a recent article published in Nature, scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology show that this Green Deal might actually be a bad deal for the planet.

The problem is that the EU is likely to basically be outsourcing environmental damage by its high imports of agricultural products.

According to the Karlsruhe study, the EU annually imports millions of tons of agricultural products, as much as 20% of its produce and much of its meat and dairy products.  Quite often, these imports come from countries whose environmental laws are far less stringent than those in Europe.

The EU cannot impose environmental standards on other countries, but it can demand that goods entering the European market meet EU requirements.  The study points out that Europe’s carbon footprint has to be evaluated on a global basis.  If the EU is truly to become a climate-neutral continent, it must include foreign trade goals and requirements in its environmental programs.  Otherwise, Europe will simply be outsourcing its environmental problems and will continue to cause damage to the planet.

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Green Deal: Good for a Climate-neutral Europe – Bad for the Planet

Photo, posted July 17, 2009, courtesy of Edmund Garman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Bees Threatening Bees | Earth Wise

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Domesticated honeybees are an essential part of our agricultural system, being responsible for one in every three bites of food Americans consume and contributing $15 billion a year to the value of the nation’s crop production.  Millions of bee colonies are trucked across the country every year to pollinate cranberries, melons, broccoli, blueberries, and cherries, and also to produce honey.

After the growing seasons, honeybees are trucked to various locations to rest and rebuild their population and to replenish bees lost to disease and pesticides.  Some of these locations are in national forests.  Thousands of hives belonging to 112 apiaries are currently permitted in national forests by the Department of Agriculture.  This presents a problem because these hives are being permitted on public lands with virtually no environmental review and with little consideration of the impact these colonies can have on local wild bee populations.

The 4,000 wild bee species in the U.S. consume up to 95% of local available pollen.  Nearly 40 federally listed threatened or endangered species of bees, butterflies, and flower flies depend on national forest land for their survival.  And now the pollinators in these places, which were once refuges for these species and others, increasingly face competition from millions of domesticated honeybees.

Honeybees are super-foraging machines and are literally taking the pollen out of the mouths of other bees and pollinators.  Honeybees themselves have been facing numerous problems from habitat loss, pesticides, and other stress factors.  So, what is happening is essentially a pollinator habitat crunch that carries long-term implications for the U.S. food supply.  We need to find some answers and the sooner the better.

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Will Putting Honey Bees on Public Lands Threaten Native Bees?

Photo, posted August 9, 2015, courtesy of Tak H. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Global Decline In Wildlife | Earth Wise

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According to a new report released by the World Wildlife Fund, global populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish have declined by 68% in less than half a century. 

The report presents a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world based on the tracking of almost 21,000 populations of more than 4,000 vertebrate species between 1970 and 2016. 

The report shows that the main cause of the dramatic decline in species populations on land is habitat loss and degradation, which includes deforestation driven by food production.  Additional factors include land-use change and the use and trade of wildlife.

Wildlife populations found in freshwater habitats have suffered a decline of 84%, which is the steepest decline in any biome.

Insect populations have declined rapidly in many places, but most of the information about insects comes from a small number of countries in the northern hemisphere.  There is very little information from large parts of the world, such as Africa, South America, and Asia, where land-use change and agricultural expansion are happening fast.  What happens to insects matters a lot to humanity.  Insects play central roles in the world’s ecosystems as waste processors, pollinators, predators, and prey. 

The report is clear evidence of the damage human activity is doing to the natural world.  Threats to the integrity of ecosystems endanger humans and all of nature.  This is especially apparent in the midst of a global pandemic.  It is now more important than ever to take coordinated global action to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity and wildlife populations across the globe.

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Living Planet Report reveals 68% decline in global wildlife populations since 1970

Photo, posted May 7, 2020, courtesy of Bernard Spragg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Native Bees In A Honeybee World | Earth Wise

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There is a great deal of attention on the plight of bees and other pollinators.  Much of that focuses on the problems plaguing the large, domesticated honeybee colonies that are trucked from region to region to pollinate everything from almonds to fruit trees.  Managed bee colonies have recently been losing more than 40% of their population over the course of a year.  But overall, honeybees are still relatively safe. They are a globally distributed, domesticated species and are not remotely threatened with extinction.

But another group of bees – native bees – faces a different range of threats, most linked to habitat loss.   Worldwide, roughly 20,000 native bee species have evolved over millions of years to thrive in countless habitats, where they have specialized in pollinating specific flowers and plants – in some cases just a single plant.

Scientists have estimated that, globally, 1 in 6 bee species is regionally extinct. In the United States there are about 4,000 native bee species, most of which are solitary bees that nest in the ground or cavities, with many that require just one or a few plant species for sustenance. At least 23 percent of U.S. native bees have declined, with bees in areas with heavy commodity-crop production particularly hard hit due to habitat loss and pesticide use. Other threats to native bees include climate-driven sea-level rise and increased temperatures, loss of host plants, and competition and disease from non-native honeybees. 50% of Midwestern native bee species disappeared from their historic ranges in the last 100 years.   Four of our bumblebee species declined 96% in the last 20 years, and three species are believed to already be extinct. 

Native bees are in big trouble.

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Backyard Battle: Helping Native Bees Thrive in a Honeybee World

Photo, posted December 2, 2017, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Decline Of Pollinators Threatens Food Security | Earth Wise

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Scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators for many years.  According to a United Nations-sponsored report, 40% of invertebrate pollinator species, including bees and butterflies, are facing extinction.  Approximately 80% of all flowering plant species, which are responsible for 35% of global food production, depend on pollination. 

According to new research led by Rutgers University, crop yields for apples, blueberries, and cherries in the United States are being reduced by a lack of pollinators.  The study, the most comprehensive of its kind to date, found that crop production would be increased if crop flowers received more pollination.  In the U.S., the production of crops that depend on pollinators generates more than $50 billion a year.    

For the study, which was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers collected data on insect pollination of crop flowers and yield of apples, highbush blueberries, sweet cherries, tart cherries, almonds, watermelons, and pumpkins at 131 farms across the United States and British Columbia, Canada.  Four of those seven crops – apples, blueberries, sweet cherries, and tart cherries – showed evidence of being limited by pollination, meaning that their yields are lower than they would be with full pollination. 

The researchers observed that honey bees and wild bees provided similar amounts of overall pollination, so managing habitat for native bee species or stocking more honey bees would boost pollination levels and, in turn, crop production.

Bees and other pollinators play a critical role in food production, and their continued decline could have devastating consequences.

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Decline of bees, other pollinators threatens US crop yields

Photo, posted April 22, 2012, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Trouble For Monarchs | Earth Wise

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Monarch butterflies have been in trouble for quite a while and now it seems like their prospects are worse than ever.  Multiple surveys of butterfly populations are reporting plummeting numbers.

Western monarch butterflies spend their winters on the central California coast.  Months later, they breed in California’s Central Valley and as far north and east as Idaho.  But in recent years, it has become harder and harder to find them in their breeding sites.

The Western monarch population was in the millions in the 1980s.  In 2017, an annual survey found 200,000 butterflies.  In 2018 and 2019, only about 30,000 butterflies were tallied.  The loss of Western butterflies in general has come about from a variety of factors, including development, climate change, farming practices and the widespread use of pesticides by farmers and on home and business lawns.

Scientists use the area of land that migrating Monarchs occupy in Mexico to gauge populations.  This year, they covered about 7 acres, down from 15 acres in 2019.

Meanwhile, there are also far fewer Eastern monarch butterflies on the opposite side of the country.  According to a new population survey, the Eastern monarch has passed the extinction threshold.  Its population in 2020 dropped 53% from its already low 2019 numbers.  Scientists were expecting lower numbers this year, but they were staggered by their findings.

Butterfly populations are quite variable, so it is possible that the drastic declines this year are not necessarily irreversible, but the news is not good.   Researchers and environmental advocates continue to point out that mitigating the climate crisis, reducing pesticide use and planting pollinator gardens could help the butterflies to recover.

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Web Links

Monarch Butterfly Populations Are Plummeting

Photo, posted September 7, 2017, courtesy of C. Watts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)