Widespread losses of pollinating insects in Britain

Powney, Gary D.; Carvell, Claire; Edwards, Mike; Morris, Roger K.A.; Roy, Helen E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6050-679X; Woodcock, Ben A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0300-9951; Isaac, Nick J.B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4869-8052. 2019 Widespread losses of pollinating insects in Britain. Nature Communications, 10, 1018. 6, pp. 10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9

Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	2041-1723
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	biodiversity, ecological modelling, ecosystem services, macroecology
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Agriculture and Soil Science Data and Information
Date made live:	28 Mar 2019 12:08 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522697

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/s41467-019-08974-9

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Biodiversity (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

2041-1723

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

biodiversity, ecological modelling, ecosystem services, macroecology