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A new study has revealed that many species of pollinators are disappearing from some parts of Britain.
The research, led by the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, measured the presence of 353 species of bees and hoverflies across the country, between 1980 and 2013. It showed that A third of the species have declined in terms of the areas in which they were found, while a tenth has increased. For the rest of the species, their distribution was either stable or the trend was not conclusive.
One of the positive but unexpected results of the study is the increase in the number of bee species crucial for the pollination of flowering plants, such as rapeseed. This could result from the sharp increase in the massive flowering crops grown during the study period and government-subsidized programs that encourage farmers to plant more of the wildflowers they feed on.
The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, also showed that on average, the range of bee and hoverfly species decreased by a quarter. This equates to a net loss of 11 species from each 1-km square.
Overall losses were most noticeable for pollinator species found in northern Great Britain. This may be due to climate change, with species preferring cooler temperatures reducing their geographic dispersion in response to less climate friendly landscapes.
Dr. Gary Powney, of the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, who led the research, said, "We used advanced statistical methods to analyze a large number of observations from 39 species, thus revealing important differences in distributional changes of pollinating insects because of these differences, but habitat loss is probably the main factor of decline.
"Although the increase in the number of pollinators of key crops is good news, they still constitute a relatively small group of species, so with the general decline in species, it would be risky to rely on this. If something happened to them in the future, there would be fewer other species to "step up" and fulfill the essential role of crop pollination.
He adds: "Pollinators other than crops are also essential for a healthy, biodiversity-rich countryside, not only because of their crucial role in pollinating wildflowers, but also as an essential food resource for other wildlife species. .
"Wildflowers and pollinators depend on each other for their survival, and losses, whether one or the other, are a major concern when we consider the health and beauty of our natural environment."
Dr. Claire Carvell of the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, co-author of the study, points out that there are multiple environmental pressures that are causing a shift in patterns of life. occurrence in bees and hoverflies across the country.
She said: "There is an urgent need for more reliable data on the patterns and causes of pollinator decline, which sends us a warning, but the results support previous studies suggesting that conservation measures, such as Farming and wildlife-friendly gardening have a lasting positive impact on wild pollinators in rural and urban areas, but they need to be further refined to benefit more species. "
Dr. Carvell adds: "In addition to recording species observations, more standardized monitoring of the number of pollinators is needed at the national level and a new pollinator surveillance system in the UK has been put in place. place for this purpose ".
More than 700,000 records were analyzed for this study. Most were gathered by expert naturalists from BWARS (Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society) and the British Hoverfly recording system, in more than 19,000 1km x 1km squares across Great Britain . This would be the first study of this type, as there were no previous large-scale, long-term, species-specific estimates of the variation in pollinating insects in Britain. #
Mike Edwards of BWARS said: "All important studies on trends in animal populations, such as these latest research, rely entirely on wildlife recorders that record observations of different species in their area. we are encouraging more people to participate in the wildlife registration, so that we can better understand how wildlife is responding to environmental changes. "
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