Back in October 2006 the Royal Society published an online version of a comprehensive study that was the first attempt to put a global value on pollinators. It attracted some attention back then, at The Worsted Witch, who got it from Science Daily. We missed it at the time1, but as the paper version has just been published, that’s enough reason to revisit it2.
Very briefly, the article shows that 87 of the leading 115 crops depend to varying degrees on animal pollination. These 87 crops represent 35% of the world’s food production. While a few food plants are pollinated by birds or bats, the most important pollinators are, of course, honeybees, domesticated and wild. This is particularly troublesome in light of the various threats to the domesticated bee. The authors conclude that agricultural intensification jeopardizes wild bee populations and plead for more research into landscape management practices that would enhance wild bee viability.
Interestingly, I couldn’t find an actual cash value for pollination services in the article, but maybe I didn’t look hard enough.
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I would like to get the report but the link does not actually lead to the article. Is it behind a paywall?
Ron, I think that the publications of the Royal Society are something you probably need to subscribe to. My suggestion would be to contact the lead author of the study, Dr. Klein at aklein2@gwdg.de and request an elctronic copy. Michael
That’s odd. When I was looking for the article that linked worked for me, and I did not have to log in or rgister. Now it no longer works. I hope you found the article, Ron, and I will try to investigate with the Royal Society when I get a moment.
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