A huge fall in bee populations at fruit orchards in New Jersey and Pennsylvania has Rutgers scientists questioning if it is a natural phenomenon or a warning sign of a future threat to the world's food supply.
The rapid decline of bees
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In a study published in the science journal Insect Conservation and Diversity, Rutgers scientists who have been tracking the decline in bee pollination at fruit farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania argue that more long-term studies are needed because bee pollination is required for plants to reproduce and is critical to supplying food to animals and humans worldwide.
"This study is significant because it is one of the first to assess trends in wild bee abundance in an agricultural system where bees provide an economically important ecosystem service," said lead author Andrew Aldercotte, a doctoral candidate in the Rutgers graduate program in ecology and evolution.
Despite the universal acknowledgment of the importance of long-term pollinator abundance and pollinating service supply tracking, such studies are extremely rare, as per ScienceDaily.
The research lasted eight years, which is insufficient time for experts to sound the alarm. Longer-term investigations, they added, will be needed to assess if the fall represented an actual dip in bee populations or a typical change over a wider cycle.
Aldercotte stated, "We watched two objects come out." One was that bee visitation was quite low over the latter two years of the research. However, we discovered that the figures varied greatly from year to year.
Aldercotte and colleagues evaluated data gathered by Winfree and other scientific field workers at 19 farms and ranches in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania during peak bloom times from 2005 to 2012.
The data reflects pollination visits to the blooms of watermelon plants by 73 species of bees classified as wild bees, bumble bees, or honey bees.
According to the researchers, wild bee pollination of watermelon blooms declined by more than half between 2005 and 2012.
Bumble bees and other species of wild bees had comparable declines, but honey bee populations increased.
Human activities are rapidly threatening bees and other pollinators such as butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds, as per the UN.
Pollination, on the other hand, is a critical mechanism for the survival of our ecosystems. Nearly 90% of the world's wild blooming plant species rely totally or partially on animal pollination, as do more than 75% of the world's food crops and 35% of global agricultural area.
Pollinators not only contribute directly to food security but also play an important role in biodiversity conservation.
The United Nations established May 20 as World Bee Day to increase awareness of the importance of pollinators, the risks they face, and their contribution to sustainable development.
The goal is to increase bee and other pollinator protection efforts, which would considerably contribute to resolving global food supply issues and eliminating poverty in underdeveloped nations.
We all rely on pollinators, therefore monitoring their decrease and halting biodiversity loss is critical.
Bees are in danger. Because of human influences, current species extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times greater than usual.
Around 35% of invertebrate pollinators, primarily bees and butterflies, and 17% of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, are on the verge of extinction.
If this trend continues, nutritional crops such as fruits, nuts, and many vegetable crops will be progressively displaced by staple crops such as rice, maize, and potatoes, resulting in an unbalanced diet.
