Widespread losses of pollinating insects in Britain

作者：Gary D. Powney, Claire Carvell, Mike Edwards, Roger Morris, Helen E. Roy, Ben A. Woodcock, Nick J. B. Isaac · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9 · 被引用次数：688 · 研究领域：Plant and animal studies、Insect and Pesticide Research、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

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 km2 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.