2019/03/26 by Gary D. Powney, Claire Carvell, Mike Edwards +4 · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Abundance (ecology) #Biodiversity #Biology #Ecology #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Ecosystem #Ecosystem services #Habitat #Insect and Pesticide Research #Plant and animal studies #Pollen #Pollination #Pollinator #Productivity #Species evenness #Species richness
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9
openalex publication_date 2019/03/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
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 km 2 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.