Biota Neotropica 16(1): e20160101, 2016
www.scielo.br/bn
editorial
Summary for policymakers of the thematic assessment on pollinators, pollination and
food production
Key messages
Values of pollinators and pollination
1. Animal pollination plays a vital role as a regulating ecosystem
service in nature. Globally, nearly 90 per cent of wild flowering
plant species depend, at least in part, on the transfer of pollen
by animals. These plants are critical for the continued functioning of ecosystems as they provide food, form habitats, and
provide other resources for a wide range of other species.
2. More than three quarters of the leading types of global
food crops rely to some extent on animal pollination for yield
and/or quality. Pollinator-dependent crops contribute to 35 per
cent of global crop production volume.
3. Given that pollinator-dependent crops rely on animal pollination to varying degrees, it is estimated that 5–8 per cent of current
global crop production is directly attributed to animal pollination
with an annual market value of $235 billion–$577 billion (in 2015,
United States dollars1) worldwide.
4. The importance of animal pollination varies substantially
among crops, and therefore among regional crop economies.
Many of the world’s most important cash crops benefit from
animal pollination in terms of yield and/or quality and are
leading export products in developing countries (e.g., coffee
and cocoa) and developed countries (e.g., almond), providing
employment and income for millions of people.
5. Pollinator-dependent food products are important contributors to healthy human diets and nutrition. Pollinatordependent species encompass many fruit, vegetable, seed, nut
and oil crops, which supply major proportions of micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in the human diet.
6. The vast majority of pollinator species are wild, including
more than 20,000 species of bees, and some species of flies,
butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, thrips, birds and bats and other
vertebrates. A few species of bees are widely managed, including
the western honey bee2. (Apis mellifera), the eastern honey bee
(Apis cerana), some bumble bees, some stingless bees, and a few
solitary bees. Beekeeping provides an important source of income
for many rural livelihoods. The western honey bee is the most
widespread managed pollinator in the world, and globally there
are about 81 million hives producing an estimated 1.6 million
tonnes of honey annually.
7. Both wild and managed pollinators have a globally significant role in crop pollination, although their relative contributions differ according to crop and location. Crop yield and/or
quality depends on both the abundance and diversity of
pollinators. A diverse community of pollinators generally
provides more effective and stable crop pollination than any
1
Value adjusted to 2015 United States dollars taking into account
inflation only.
2
Also called the European honey bee, native to Africa, Europe and
Western Asia, but spread around the globe by beekeepers and queen
breeders.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611201600010001
single species. Pollinator diversity contributes to crop pollination even when managed species (e.g., honey bees) are present
in high abundance. The contribution of wild pollinators to crop
production is undervalued.
8. Pollinators are a source of multiple benefits to people,
beyond food provisioning, contributing directly to medicines,
biofuels (e.g. canola3, palm oil), fibres (e.g, cotton, linen)
construction materials (timbers), musical instruments, arts and
crafts, recreational activities and as sources of inspiration for art,
music, literature, religion, traditions, technology and education.
Pollinators serve as important spiritual symbols in many
cultures. Sacred passages about bees in all the worlds’ major
religions highlight their significance to human societies over
millennia.
9. A good quality of life for many people relies on ongoing
roles of pollinators in globally significant heritage; as symbols of
identity; as aesthetically significant landscapes and animals; in
social relations; for education and recreation; and governance
interactions. Pollinators and pollination are critical to the
implementation of: the Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO); the Convention
Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural
Heritage (UNESCO); and Globally Important Agricultural
Heritage Systems (FAO).
Status and trends in pollinators and pollination
10. Wild pollinators have declined in occurrence and diversity
(and abundance for certain species) at local and regional scales,
in North West Europe and North America. Although a lack of
wild pollinator data (species identity, distribution and abundance) for Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania preclude
any general statement on their regional status, local declines
have been recorded. Long-term international or national monitoring of both pollinators and pollination is urgently required
to provide information on status and trends for most species
and most parts of the world.
11. The number of managed western honey bee hives has
increased globally over the last five decades, even though declines
have been recorded in some European countries and North America
over the same period. Seasonal colony loss of western honey bees
has in recent years been high at least in some parts of the
temperate Northern Hemisphere and in South Africa. Beekeepers can under some conditions, with associated economic
costs, make up such losses through splitting of managed colonies.
12. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) Red List assessments indicate that 16.5 per cent of vertebrate pollinators are threatened with global extinction (increasing
to 30 per cent for island species). There are no global Red List
assessments specifically for insect pollinators. However, regional and national assessments indicate high levels of threat for
some bees and butterflies. In Europe, 9 per cent of bee and
butterfly species are threatened and populations are declining
3
Also called oil seed rape.
http://www.scielo.br/bn
2
Biota Neotrop., 16(1): e20160101, 2016
Summary for policymakers of the thematic assessment on pollinators, pollination and food production
for 37 per cent of bees and 31 per cent of butterflies (excluding
data deficient species, which includes 57 per cent of bees).
Where national Red List assessments are available, they show
that often more than 40 per cent of bee species may be
threatened.
13. The volume of production of pollinator-dependent crops
has increased by 300 per cent over the last five decades making
livelihoods increasingly dependent on the provision of pollination.
However, overall these crops have experienced lower growth
and lower stability of yield than pollinator-independent crops.
Yield per hectare of pollinator-dependent crops has increased
less, and varies more year to year than yield per hectare of
pollinator-independent crops. While the drivers of this trend
are not clear, studies of several crops at local scales show that
production declines when pollinators decline.
Drivers of change, risks and opportunities, and policy and
management options
14. The abundance, diversity and health of pollinators and the
provision of pollination are threatened by direct drivers which
generate risks to societies and ecosystems. Threats include landuse change, intensive agricultural management and pesticide
use, environmental pollution, invasive alien species, pathogens
and climate change. Explicitly linking pollinator declines to
individual or combinations of direct drivers is limited by data
availability or complexity, yet a wealth of individual case
studies worldwide suggests that these direct drivers often affect
pollinators negatively.
15. Strategic responses to the risks and opportunities associated
with pollinators and pollination range in ambition and timescale,
from immediate, relatively straightforward responses that reduce or
avoid risks, to larger scale and longer-term responses that aim to
transform agriculture, or society’s relationship with nature. There
are seven broad strategies, linked to actions, for responding to
risks and opportunities, including a range of solutions that draw
on indigenous and local knowledge. These strategies can be
adopted in parallel, and would be expected to reduce risks
associated with pollinator decline in any region of the world,
regardless of the extent of available knowledge about the status of
pollinators or the effectiveness of interventions.
16. A number of features of current intensive agricultural
practices threaten pollinators and pollination. Moving towards
more sustainable agriculture and reversing the simplification of
agricultural landscapes offer key strategic responses to risks
associated with pollinator decline. Three complementary
approaches to maintaining healthy pollinator communities
and productive agriculture are: (a) ecological intensification
(i.e., managing nature’s ecological functions to improve agricultural production and livelihoods while minimizing environmental damage); (b) strengthening existing diversified farming
systems (including forest gardens, home gardens, agroforestry
and mixed cropping and livestock systems) to foster pollinators
and pollination through practices validated by science or
indigenous and local knowledge (e.g., crop rotation); and (c)
investing in ecological infrastructure by protecting, restoring
and connecting patches of natural and semi-natural habitats
throughout productive agricultural landscapes. These strategies
can concurrently mitigate the impacts of land-use change, land
management intensity, pesticide use and climate change on
pollinators.
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17. Practices based on indigenous and local knowledge, in
supporting an abundance and diversity of pollinators can, in coproduction with science, be a source of solutions to current
challenges. Practices include diverse farming systems; favouring
heterogeneity in landscapes and gardens; kinship relationships
that protect many specific pollinators; using seasonal indicators
(e.g., flowering) to trigger actions (e.g., planting); distinguishing a wide range of pollinators; and tending to nest trees, and
floral and other pollinator resources. Knowledge co-production has led to improvements in hive design; new understanding of parasite impacts; and the identification of stingless
bees new to science.
18. The risk to pollinators from pesticides is through a
combination of the toxicity and the level of exposure, which
varies geographically with compounds used, and the scale of land
management and habitat in the landscape. Pesticides, particularly
insecticides, have been demonstrated to have a broad range of
lethal and sublethal effects on pollinators in controlled experimental conditions. The few available field studies assessing effects
of field-realistic exposure provide conflicting evidence of effects
based on species studied and pesticide usage. It is currently
unresolved how sublethal effects of pesticide exposure recorded
for individual insects affect colonies and populations of managed
bees and wild pollinators, especially over the longer-term. Recent
research focusing on neonicotinoid insecticides shows evidence of
lethal and sublethal effects on bees and some evidence of impacts
on the pollination they provide. There is evidence from a recent
study which shows impacts of neonicotinoids on wild pollinator
survival and reproduction at actual field exposure.4 Evidence,
from this and other studies, for effects on managed honey bee
colonies is conflicting
19. Exposure of pollinators to pesticides can be decreased by
reducing the use of pesticides seeking alternative forms of pest
control, and adopting a range of specific application practices,
including technologies to reduce pesticide drift. Actions to reduce
pesticide use include promoting Integrated Pest Management
supported by educating farmers, organic farming and policies to
reduce overall use. Risk assessment can be an effective tool to
define pollinator-safe uses of pesticides, which should consider
different levels of risk among wild and managed pollinator species
according to their biology. Subsequent use regulations (including
labelling) are important steps towards avoiding the misuse of
specific pesticides. The International Code of Conduct on the
Distribution and Use of Pesticides of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provides a set of
voluntary actions for Government and industry to reduce risks
for human health and environment, although only 15 per cent of
countries are using this.5
20. Most agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
carry traits for herbicide tolerance (HT) or insect resistance (IR).
Reduced weed populations are likely to accompany most HT
crops, diminishing food resources for pollinators. The actual
consequences for the abundance and diversity of pollinators
foraging in HT-crop fields is unknown. IR crops can result in
the reduction of insecticide use which varies regionally according
4
Rundlof et al., 2015. Seed coating with a neonicotinoid insecticide
negatively affects wild bees. Nature 521: 77-80 doi: 10.1038/nature14420.
5
Based on a survey from 2004–2005; Ekström, G., and Ekbom, B. 2010.
Can the IOMC Revive the ’FAO Code’ and take stakeholder initiatives
to the developing world? Outlooks on Pest Management 21:125-131.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611201600010001
Biota Neotrop., 16(1): e20160101, 2016
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Summary for policymakers of the thematic assessment on pollinators, pollination and food production
to the prevalence of pests, the emergence of secondary outbreaks
of non-target pests or primary pest resistance. If sustained, this
reduction in insecticide use could reduce this pressure on nontarget insects. How IR-crop use and reduced pesticide use affect
pollinator abundance and diversity is unknown. Risk assessment
required for the approval of GMO crops in most countries does
not adequately address the direct sublethal effects of IR crops or
the indirect effects of HT and IR crops, partly because of the
lack of data.
21. Bees suffer from a broad range of parasites, including
Varroa mites in western and eastern honey bees. Emerging and
re-emerging diseases are a significant threat to the health of
honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees especially when
managed commercially. Greater emphasis on hygiene and the
control of pathogens would help reduce the spread of disease
across the entire community of pollinators, managed and wild.
Mass breeding and large-scale transport of managed pollinators can pose risks for the transmission of pathogens and
parasites, and increase the likelihood of selection for more
virulent pathogens, alien species invasions, and regional
extinctions of native pollinator species. The risk of unintended
harm to wild and managed pollinators could be decreased by
better regulation of their trade and use.
22. The ranges, abundances, and seasonal activities of some
wild pollinator species (e.g., bumble bees and butterflies) have
changed in response to observed climate change over recent
decades. Generally, the impacts of ongoing climate change on
pollinators and pollination services to agriculture may not be
fully apparent for several decades, owing to a delayed response
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611201600010001
in ecological systems. Adaptive responses to climate change
include increasing crop diversity and regional farm diversity,
and targeted habitat conservation, management or restoration.
The effectiveness of adaptation efforts at securing pollination
under climate change is untested. Many actions to support wild
and managed pollinators and pollination could be implemented
more effectively with improved governance. For example,
broad-scale government policy may be too homogenous and
not allow for local variation in practices; administration can be
fragmented into different levels; and goals can be contradictory
between sectors. Coordinated, collaborative action and knowledge-sharing that builds links across sectors (e.g., agriculture
and nature conservation), across jurisdictions (e.g., private,
government, not-for-profit), and among levels (e.g., local,
national, global) can overcome these challenges and lead to
long-term changes that benefit pollinators. Establishing effective governance requires habits, motivations and social norms
to change over the long term. However, the possibility that
contradictions between policy sectors remain even after
coordination efforts should be acknowledged and be a point
of attention in future studies.
Drafting authors: Simon G. Potts, Vera Imperatriz-Fonseca,
Hien T. Ngo, Jacobus C. Biesmeijer, Thomas D. Breeze, Lynn
V. Dicks, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Rosemary Hill, Josef Settele and
Adam J. Vanbergen.
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - IPBES
http://www.scielo.br/bn