National pollinator strategy needed to save Canada's wild bees, say researchers

Published 2023년 6월 23일

Tridge summary

Researchers at York University in Canada are calling for the development of a national pollinator strategy to protect the country's wild bee species and other pollinators, which are facing decline due to habitat loss, pesticides, parasites, non-native species, and disease. They argue that wild pollinators, which are essential for Canada's economy, food security, and ecosystems, are more effective at pollination than honey bees and highlight the need to mitigate the negative impacts of urban beehives on wild bees. The researchers have published a study outlining expert recommendations and a framework for wild pollinator conservation, emphasizing the importance of habitat creation, reduced pesticide use, and disease management. They stress that urgent action is necessary to address these threats and to build climate change resiliency.

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Original content

Canada's wild pollinators are in decline and without a national pollinator plan, many species could be heading for extinction, like the endangered rusty-patched bumblebee or the American bumblebee, say researchers at York University. Although the focus is usually on managed honey bees, unlike wild pollinators, they are not native to Canada, not adapted to this country's weather or plants and not at-risk of extinction, says the researchers. Wild pollinators are essential to Canada's economy, food security and ecosystems, but about 30 species, including eight bee species, are listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act. In the United States alone, non-managed wild pollinators are estimated to provide more than US$3 billion worth in crop pollination. Because of the urgency, and the multiple and widespread nature of the threats to wild pollinators, Associate Professor Sheila Colla of York's Native Pollinator Research ...

Source: Phys