It may seem trivial to some….but all is not well in the realm of our pollinators, the age old relationships between plants and pollinators are threatened, especially in urbanized and agricultural regions, habitat destruction and fragmentation, pesticide abuse, and disease have all taken their toll on our pollinators.
As more land is cleared for human habitation, bees, butterflies, bats, and birds are left homeless, and our gardens offer little to sustain them, as they need a constant source of nectar and pollen throughout the entire season, unfortunately the few flowering plants most people grow in their gardens will not suffice.
Another related problem is fragmentation of plant communities, plants must be pollinated in order to set seed for the next generation, so without pollinators, no seed is set and the plants will eventually die out, leading to local extinction. Isolated patches of forest, grassland, or desert are particularly vulnerable; a small patch may not sustain enough pollinators or may be too far from other patches for pollinators to travel, as a result plants do not reproduce.
Pesticides have also reduced pollinator populations; Bees are often killed by chemicals applied to eliminate other pests, honeybees are being destroyed by diseases and parasitic mites, the crisis is not just affecting native ecosystems, fruit trees and many other food crops depend on pollination for production, so we stand to lose over three quarters of our edible crops if we lose our pollinators.
What can be done? Encourage pollinators by planting a diverse mixture of adult and larval food plants in your garden erect bat and bird houses, as well as bee hives, reduce or eliminate pesticide use and help restore native plant communities not only in your garden, but also in parks and along roadways, and connect them through corridors to preserves and other natural areas, we must try and do our more for our pollinators not just for them but for ourselves!
As more land is cleared for human habitation, bees, butterflies, bats, and birds are left homeless, and our gardens offer little to sustain them, as they need a constant source of nectar and pollen throughout the entire season, unfortunately the few flowering plants most people grow in their gardens will not suffice.
Another related problem is fragmentation of plant communities, plants must be pollinated in order to set seed for the next generation, so without pollinators, no seed is set and the plants will eventually die out, leading to local extinction. Isolated patches of forest, grassland, or desert are particularly vulnerable; a small patch may not sustain enough pollinators or may be too far from other patches for pollinators to travel, as a result plants do not reproduce.
Pesticides have also reduced pollinator populations; Bees are often killed by chemicals applied to eliminate other pests, honeybees are being destroyed by diseases and parasitic mites, the crisis is not just affecting native ecosystems, fruit trees and many other food crops depend on pollination for production, so we stand to lose over three quarters of our edible crops if we lose our pollinators.
What can be done? Encourage pollinators by planting a diverse mixture of adult and larval food plants in your garden erect bat and bird houses, as well as bee hives, reduce or eliminate pesticide use and help restore native plant communities not only in your garden, but also in parks and along roadways, and connect them through corridors to preserves and other natural areas, we must try and do our more for our pollinators not just for them but for ourselves!