Status of Pollinators in North America (2007) / Chapter Skim
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7 Findings and Recommendations
7 Findings and Recommendations
Pages 196-207
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From page 196... ...
7 Findings and Recommendations The Committee on the Status of Pollinators -- a group of 15 academics, museum-based systematists, and representatives of nongovernmental organizations -- convened in July 2005 and received a set of specific questions to address: • Are pollinators experiencing serious decline, and if so, to what degree? • What research and monitoring are needed to provide improved information?
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From page 197... ...
MANAGED POLLINATORS Status Population status of most managed pollinators, such as bumble bees and alfalfa leafcutting bees, are not closely monitored in North America. Evidence for decline is compelling for the honey bee (Apis mellifera)
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From page 198... ...
Varroa mite has had a dramatic negative impact on the abundance of honey bees in North America. Bumble bees also have suffered from a number of parasites, notably the protozoan parasites Nosema bombi and Crithidia bombi, and the tracheal mite Locustacris buchneri.
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From page 199... ...
Other factors also could contribute to current and potential future declines in honey bee populations: antibiotic-resistant pathogens (American foulbrood) ; pesticide use; and the encroachment of Africanized honey bees, particularly in the southeastern United States -- a major regional source of packages, queens, and migratory beekeepers for the rest of the country.
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From page 200... ...
A special focus will need to be placed on honey bee pollination, and reward systems for technology transfer should be developed within ARS. Although honey bees are important pollinators, there also are commercially important non-Apis species that require attention.
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From page 201... ...
that accrue from the mite management required to maintain stable honey bee populations. Honey bee rental costs also are rising because of an increase in demand from almond growers that resulted from acreage increases and seasonal instability in honey bee populations.
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From page 202... ...
For some species, competition with exotic pollinators (including honey bees) can lead to population declines.
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From page 203... ...
Nevertheless, there are documented examples of reduced fruit and seed set in native plants apparently in response to a paucity of pollinators. Pollen limitation of seed set is common in wild plants, but its population consequences are not clear.
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From page 204... ...
Recommendation: Because of the importance of pollination as an ecosystem service in both agricultural and natural ecosystems, the National Science Foundation and USDA should recognize pollination as a cross-cutting theme in their competitive grant programs and work together to integrate research that ranges from the genomics of honey bees and the systematics and ecology of wild pollinators to the effects of global climate change on pollinator-plant interactions. Representative areas where research is needed include:
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From page 205... ...
• CSP should incorporate the value of pollinator habitat development into its determination of the stewardship tiers that are the basis for federal payments. • USDA cost-sharing, land retirement, and production stewardship programs should be available to producers of all commodities -- fruits, nuts, and vegetables -- that depend on pollinators.
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From page 206... ...
Recommendation: Professional societies (Ecological Society of America, Entomological Society of America, American Association of Professional Apiculturists, Botanical Society of America) and NGOs (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, Xerces Society for the Preservation of Endangered Invertebrates)
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From page 207... ...
is to protect endangered species and their habitats, many endangered pollinators are not recognized candidates for endangered or threatened status. Congress directed that listing of a species required a scientific determination of its continued existence as threatened or endangered, but data on many pollinators are sparse.
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