Fewer and fewer insect-pollinated plants – Nature side

Previous studies from Europe have shown that the diversity of plants has decreased and that insects have become fewer and fewer in Europe. 82-90 percent of the world’s plant species depend on insects for pollination, and when their numbers decrease, the plants find it increasingly difficult. It is also from the insect-pollinated plants that we get 85 percent of our food.

But some plants can survive without insects using self-pollination (autofertility) or wind pollination. Now, researchers from the Netherlands have examined how these different pollination methods have been affected between 1930 and 2017. They found that plants that depend on insects have decreased in number constantly over the past 87 years. However, the few plants that are wind-pollinated have fared better.

– In summary, Dutch landscapes are losing insect-pollinated plant species and they are being replaced by wind-pollinated species. Similar trends can be observed in other regions where pollinating insects are declining. Since animal-pollinated plants make up about 80 percent of the Earth’s flowering plants, such a loss could greatly affect the future of our ecosystems and the services they provide, the researchers write in their conclusion.

To reverse the trend, the researchers believe that nitrogen deposition (from fossil fuels and intensive agriculture) may need to be reduced and that targeted efforts are made to protect natural grasslands. In these areas, there are many insect-pollinated plants that have declined in number. There is also a need for increased monitoring and assessment of how things are going for both pollinators and insect-pollinated plants.

Read more about the insect death

Source: Journal of Applied Ecology