Widespread losses of pollinating insects in Britain

Author
Powney Gary D.
Carvell Claire
Edwards Mike
Morris Roger K. A.
Roy Helen E.
Woodcock Ben A.
Isaac Nick J. B.
Abstract

Pollination is a critical ecosystem service underpinning the productivity of agricultural systems across the world. Wild insect populations provide a substantial contribution to the productivity of many crops and seed set of wild flowers. However, large-scale evidence on species-specific trends among wild pollinators are lacking. Here we show substantial inter-specific variation in pollinator trends, based on occupancy models for 353 wild bee and hoverfly species in Great Britain between 1980 and 2013. Furthermore, we estimate a net loss of over 2.7 million occupied 1 km2 grid cells across all species. Declines in pollinator evenness suggest that losses were concentrated in rare species. In addition, losses linked to specific habitats were identified, with a 55% decline among species associated with uplands. This contrasts with dominant crop pollinators, which increased by 12%, potentially in response agri-environment measures. The general declines highlight a fundamental deterioration in both wider biodiversity and non-crop pollination services.

Year of Publication
2019
Journal
Nature Communications
Volume
10
Issue
1
Date Published
2019/03/26
ISBN Number
2041-1723
URL
DOI
10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9
Scheme
Research themes
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