Pollinators are insects and small animals that collect and carry pollen from one flowering plant to another, facilitating fertilization. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat—everything from almonds and blueberries to bananas and cocoa—exists because of pollinators like bees, birds, and bats.
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By supporting crop production and farmland ecosystems, these animals contribute over $200B to the global economy. A 3% to 5% decrease in this production may result in as many as 427,000 deaths due to nutritional deficiencies.
Many of the photographs were taken during pollinator inventories in national parks across the US. Although these inventories often focus on bees and butterflies, the collection also features beetles, moths, spiders, and birds that transfer pollen as they move from bloom to bloom.
As bees approach a bright, colorful flower for nectar, they bump into its stamen—the flower's male reproductive organ—and pollen gets stuck to the pollinator's body. This pollen can then be deposited on another flower's sticky pistil—the flower's female reproductive organ—which brings the pollen down to the ovule for fertilization.
These insects—including bumblebees, moths, butterflies, and beetles—play a crucial role in the reproduction of flowering plants, also known as angiosperms. They do so by transferring pollen from the male reproductive organ—the anther—to the female one—the stigma—which enables the plant to produce fruit.
It is estimated that there are more honey bees, which often compete with native bees for resources, on the planet than at any point in human history. Meanwhile, 40% of invertebrate pollinator species, including wild bees and butterflies, face extinction in the coming decades.
Pollinators have co-evolved alongside specific plants from their natural habitat and see their populations increase in environments with these native flora. This collection offers recommendations for regional plants that can provide nectar and pollen, serve as host plants for caterpillars, and offer nest sites for specialist bees.
The majority of honeybee species originate in South and Southeast Asia, with the largest—Apis laboriosa—found almost exclusively in the Himalayas. The smallest is the black dwarf honeybee, Apis andreniformis, which inhabits tropical and subtropical regions of the continent.
As indigenous pollinator populations dwindle, farmers increasingly rely on commercial honeybees, which truckers often transport during cooler periods to prevent die-off from overheating. Pollinating all the almond trees in California requires 85% to 90% of all honeybees available to pollinate in the country.
The cost of a beehive climbed from about $35 in the early 2010s to $200 as of 2020, which has incentivized some to steal hives at night. These kidnappings led to the creation of dedicated task forces in the state, whose almond farms have created an extraordinary demand for pollinators.
Blooming wildflowers, shrubs, and trees can provide the nectar and pollen these pollinators need but do not get from grass. Other tips include leaving patches of bare soil for ground-nesting bees to lay their eggs and filling birdbaths with large pebbles for them to land and drink from safely.
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