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Lots of Flowers and Trees - Not Enough Birds and Bees Hot competition for sex threatens biodiversity in world’s richest regions Karen Hoffmann |
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Lots of Flowers and Trees - Not Enough Birds and Bees Hot competition for sex threatens biodiversity in world’s richest regions Karen Hoffmann |
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In
biodiversity hot spots like tropical rainforests, a dearth of pollinators
could be putting many species at risk of extinction, according to a new
study that includes three Pitt researchers. The finding is raising concerns
that more may need to be done to protect the Earth’s most biologically rich
areas.
The study, titled “Pollination Decays in Biodiversity Hotspots,” appeared in
the Jan. 16 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
As the number of birds, bees, and other pollen transporters declines around
the world, competition for their attention is becoming increasingly fierce
for plants that need their services for reproduction—to the point where
species in the most fertile areas of the world are struggling for survival.
“Pollinators are on the decline globally because of habitat loss and
destruction, pesticide use, invasive species, and extinction of
vertebrates,” said Tia-Lynn Ashman, associate professor of biological
sciences at Pitt, who was involved in the study along with former Pitt
biology graduate students Janette A. Steets, now of the University of Alaska
Fairbanks, and Tiffany Knight, now of Washington University in St. Louis,
and colleagues at other institutions. University of Calgary biologist Jana
Vamosi led the study.
Ashman, Vamosi, and their colleagues reviewed more than 1,000 pollen
limitation studies from around the world and found that, in areas where
there is a great deal of plant diversity, including South American and
Southeast Asian jungles and the rich shrubland of South Africa, plants
suffer lower pollination and reproductive success. For some plant species,
this reduction in fruit and seed production could push them towards
extinction.
“Wild plant species in biodiversity hotspots are an important world resource
for the ecosystem services they provide, including medicine, food, nutrient
cycling, and alternative resources for pollinators of domesticated crops,”
Ashman said.
Further research will be done to determine what causes pollen limitation
worldwide. The authors speculate that when many species exist in the same
place, plants become more separated from other individuals of the same
species, causing pollinators to fly long distances to deliver pollen. When
pollinators do arrive, they may deliver unusable pollen from other plant
species.
Other authors of the study were Susan J. Mazer of the University of
California, Santa Barbara, and Martin Burd of Monash University in
Melbourne, Australia.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation’s National
Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Karen Hoffmann
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