Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Significance of Insect Pollinators: Opportunities and Challenges

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Engineering and Ecosystems

  • 243 Accesses

Abstract

Ecosystem goods and services are central for human and industrial activity but are often unaccounted for in most environmental sustainability assessments. One such critical ecosystem service is pollination provided by insects. Insect pollinators provide multiple direct and indirect benefits to the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors in an economy. Simultaneously, insect pollinators have faced decline because of multiple stressors including but not limited to pesticide use, lack of forage, climate change, pests, habitat fragmentation, and management practices. This chapter discusses the significant role and contribution that pollinators play for crop and noncrop production. Existing and ongoing efforts for quantifying the economic value of insect pollinators are discussed along with challenges with valuation methods. A synthesis of existing studies focused on economic valuation of insect pollinators is provided. This is followed by a discussion of the need and challenges of including pollinators in life cycle assessment methods. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the possible effects of loss of pollinators along with directions for future work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. IPBES (2016): Summary for policymakers of the assessment report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on pollinators, pollination and food production. S.G. Potts, V. L. Imperatriz-Fonseca, H. T. Ngo, J. C. Biesmeijer, T. D. Breeze, L. V. Dicks, L. A. Garibaldi, R. Hill, J. Settele, A. J. Vanbergen, M. A. Aizen, S. A. Cunningham, C. Eardley, B. M. Freitas, N. Gallai, P. G. Kevan, A. Kovács-Hostyánszki, P. K. Kwapong, J. Li, X. Li, D. J. Martins, G. Nates-Parra, J. S. Pettis, R. Rader, and B. F. Viana (eds.). Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn, Germany. 36 pages. In.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Rader, R.; Bartomeus, I.; Garibaldi, L. A.; Garratt, M. P. D.; Howlett, B. G.; Winfree, R.; Cunningham, S. A.; Mayfield, M. M.; Arthur, A. D.; Andersson, G. K. S.; Bommarco, R.; Brittain, C.; Carvalheiro, L. s. G.; Chacoff, N. P.; Entling, M. H.; Foully, B.; Freitas, B. M.; Gemmill-Herren, B.; Ghazoul, J.; Griffin, S. R.; Gross, C. L.; Herbertsson, L.; Herzog, F.; Hipólito, J.; Jaggar, S.; Jauker, F.; Klein, A.-M.; Kleijn, D.; Krishnan, S.; Lemos, C. Q.; Lindström, S. A. M.; Mandelik, Y.; Monteiro, V. M.; Nelson, W.; Nilsson, L.; Pattemore, D. E.; de O. Pereira, N.; Pisanty, G.; Potts, S. G.; Reemer, M.; Rundlöf, M.; Sheffield, C. S.; Scheper, J.; Schüepp, C.; Smith, H. G.; Stanley, D. A.; Stout, J. C.; Szentgyörgyi, H.; Taki, H.; Vergara, C. H.; Viana, B. F.; Woyciechowski, M., Non-bee insects are important contributors to global crop pollination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2016, 113, (1), 146–151.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Klein, A.-M.; Vaissière, B. E.; Cane, J. H.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Cunningham, S. A.; Kremen, C.; Tscharntke, T., Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2007, 274, (1608), 303–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Calderone, N. W., Insect pollinated crops, insect pollinators and US agriculture: Trend analysis of aggregate data for the period 1992–2009. PLoS ONE 2012, 7, (5), e37235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Southwick, E. E.; Southwick, J. L., Estimating the Economic Value of Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as Agricultural Pollinators in the United States. Journal of Economic Entomology 1992, 85, (3), 621–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chopra, S. S.; Bakshi, B. R.; Khanna, V., Economic Dependence of U.S. Industrial Sectors on Animal-Mediated Pollination Service. Environmental Science and Technology 2015, 49, 14441–14451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Charles, M.; Bakshi, B. R., Designing Industrial Landscapes for Mitigating Air Pollution with Spatially-Explicit Techno-Ecological Synergy. AIChE Journal, e17347.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Charles, M.; Ziv, G.; Bohrer, G.; Bakshi, B. R., Connecting air quality regulating ecosystem services with beneficiaries through quantitative serviceshed analysis. Ecosystem Services 2020, 41, 101057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ghosh, T.; Bakshi, B. R., Designing biofuel supply chains while mitigating harmful algal blooms with treatment wetlands. Computers & Chemical Engineering 2019, 126, 113–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Losey, J. E.; Vaughan, M., The economic value of ecological services provided by insects. BioScience 2006, 56, (4), 311–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Chan, K. M. A.; Guerry, A. D.; Balvanera, P.; Klain, S.; Satterfield, T.; Basurto, X.; Bostrom, A.; Chuenpagdee, R.; Gould, R.; Halpern, B. S.; Hannahs, N.; Levine, J.; Norton, B.; Ruckelshaus, M.; Russel, R.; Tam, J.; Woodside, U., Where are Cultural and Social in Ecosystem Services? A Framework for Constructive Engagement. BioScience 2012, 62, (8), 744–756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Mburu, J.; Hein, L. G.; Gemmill, B.; Collette, L. Economic Valuation of Pollination Services: Review of Methods; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Senapathi, D.; Biesmeijer, J. C.; Breeze, T. D.; Kleijn, D.; Potts, S. G.; Carvalheiro, L. G., Pollinator conservation — the difference between managing for pollination services and preserving pollinator diversity. Current Opinion in Insect Science 2015, 12, 93–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Melathopoulos, A. P.; Cutler, C. G.; Tyedmers, P., Where is the value in valuing pollination ecosystem services to agriculture? Ecological Economics 2015, 109, 59–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kirk, A. K.; Isaacs, R., Predicting Flower Phenology and Viability of Highbush Blueberry. HortScience 2012, 47, (9), 1291–1296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Drummond, F., Reproductive Biology of Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton). Agriculture 2019, 9, (4), 69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Morse, R. A.; Calderone, N. W., The value of honey bee pollination in the United States. Bee Culture 2000, 128, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Klein, A. M.; Vaissiere, B. E.; Cane, J. H.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Cunningham, S. A.; Kremen, C.; Tscharntke, T., Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2007, 274, 303–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Garibaldi, L. A.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Winfree, R.; Aizen, M. A.; Bommarco, R.; Cunningham, S. A.; Kremen, C.; Carvalheiro, L. G.; Harder, L. D.; Afik, O.; Bartomeus, I.; Benjamin, F.; Boreux, V.; Cariveau, D.; Chacoff, N. P.; Dudenhöffer, J. H.; Freitas, B. M.; Ghazoul, J.; Greenleaf, S.; Hipólito, J.; Holzschuh, A.; Howlett, B.; Isaacs, R.; Javorek, S. K.; Kennedy, C. M.; Krewenka, K. M.; Krishnan, S.; Mandelik, Y.; Mayfield, M. M.; Motzke, I.; Munyuli, T.; Nault, B. A.; Otieno, M.; Petersen, J.; Pisanty, G.; Potts, S. G.; Rader, R.; Ricketts, T. H.; Rundlöf, M.; Seymour, C. L.; Schüepp, C.; Szentgyörgyi, H.; Taki, H.; Tscharntke, T.; Vergara, C. H.; Viana, B. F.; Wanger, T. C.; Westphal, C.; Williams, N.; Klein, A. M., Wild pollinators enhance fruit set of crops regardless of honey bee abundance. Science 2013, 339, (6127), 1608–1611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Kleijn, D.; Winfree, R.; Bartomeus, I.; Carvalheiro, L. G.; Henry, M.; Isaacs, R.; Klein, A. M.; Kremen, C.; M’Gonigle, L. K.; Rader, R.; Ricketts, T. H.; Williams, N. M.; Lee Adamson, N.; Ascher, J. S.; Baldi, A.; Batary, P.; Benjamin, F.; Biesmeijer, J. C.; Blitzer, E. J.; Bommarco, R.; Brand, M. R.; Bretagnolle, V.; Button, L.; Cariveau, D. P.; Chifflet, R.; Colville, J. F.; Danforth, B. N.; Elle, E.; Garratt, M. P. D.; Herzog, F.; Holzschuh, A.; Howlett, B. G.; Jauker, F.; Jha, S.; Knop, E.; Krewenka, K. M.; Le Feon, V.; Mandelik, Y.; May, E. A.; Park, M. G.; Pisanty, G.; Reemer, M.; Riedinger, V.; Rollin, O.; Rundlof, M.; Sardinas, H. S.; Scheper, J.; Sciligo, A. R.; Smith, H. G.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Thorp, R.; Tscharntke, T.; Verhulst, J.; Viana, B. F.; Vaissiere, B. E.; Veldtman, R.; Ward, K. L.; Westphal, C.; Potts, S. G., Delivery of crop pollination services is an insufficient argument for wild pollinator conservation. Nat Commun 2015, 6, 7414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Klein, A. M.; Hendrix, S. D.; Clough, Y.; Scofield, A.; Kremen, C., Interacting effects of pollination, water and nutrients on fruit tree performance. Plant Biology 2015, 17, (1), 201–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Grozinger, C. M.; Lopez-Uribe, M. M.; Patch, H. M.; Strathmeyer, F.; Welliver, R.; Spichiger, S.; Roccasecca, K.; Libhart, T.; Vorisek, C.; Rapasky, S.; Eggen, D.; Sitch, K.; Leppo, B.; Jones, B.; Brightman, T.; Radebaugh, M.; Pulig, B.; Campbell, B. Pennsylvania Pollinator Protection Plan. https://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/publications/p4-introduction

  23. Gallai, N.; Salles, J.-M.; Settele, J.; Vaissière, B. E., Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline. Ecological Economics 2009, 68, (3), 810–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Breeze, T. D.; Gallai, N.; Garibaldi, L. A.; Li, X. S., Economic Measures of Pollination Services: Shortcomings and Future Directions. Cell Press: Trends in Ecology & Evolution 2016, 31, (12), 927–939.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Allsopp, M. H.; de Lange, W. J.; Veldtman, R., Valuing insect pollination services with cost of replacement. PLoS ONE 2008, 3, (9), e3128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Leontief, W. W., Quantitative input and output relations in the economic system of the United States. The Review of Economic Statistics 1936, 18, (3), 105–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Butler, C., The position of honey-bee in the national economy. Adult bee diseases. Annals Applied Biology 1943, 30, 189–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Metcalf, C. L.; Flint, W. P.; Metcalf, R. L., Detructive and Useful Inescts: Their Habits and Control. McGraw-Hill Book Company: 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Martin, E. C., The use of bees for crop pollination. American Bee Journal 1973, 113, 422–423.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Levin, M. D., Value of bee pollination to US agriculture. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 1984, 29, (4), 50–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Winston, M. L.; Scott-Dupree, C., The value of bee pollination to Canadian agriculture. Canadian Beekeeper 1984, 11, (134).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Fluri, P.; Frick, R., L’apiculture en Suisse:état et perspectives. Revue Suisse d’Agriculture 2005, 37, 81–86.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Bauer, D.; Wing, I. S., Economic Consequences of Pollinator Declines: A synthesis. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 2010, 39, (3), 368–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Bauer, D.; Wing, I. S., The macroeconomic cost of catastrophic pollinator declines. Ecological Economics 2016, 126, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Robinson, W. S.; Nowogrodzki, R.; Morse, R. A., The value of honey bees as pollinators of U.S. crops. American Bee Journal 1989, 129, 411–423, 477–487.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Winfree, R.; Gross, B. J.; Kremen, C., Valuing pollination services to agriculture. Ecological Economics 2011, 71, 80–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kasina, J.; Mburu, J.; Kraemer, M.; Holm-Mueller, K., Economic benefit of crop pollination by bees: a case of Kakamega small-holder farming in western Kenya. Journal of Economic Entomology 2009, 102, 467–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Chacoff, N. P.; Morales, C. L.; Garibaldi, L. A.; Ashworth, L.; Aizen, M. A., Pollinator dependence of Argentinian agriculture: current status and temporal analysis. The Americas Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology 2010, 3, (1), 106–116.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Lautenbach, S.; Seppelt, R.; Liebscher, J.; Dormann, C. F., Spatial and temporal trends of global pollination benefit. PLoS ONE 2012, 7, (4), e35954.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. O’Grady, J. H., Market Failure in the Provision of Honeybee Pollination; a Heuristic Investigation. University of Vermont: 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Ashworth, L.; Quesada, M.; Casas, A.; Aguilar, R.; Oyma, K., Pollinator-dependent food production in Mexico. Biological Conservation 2009, 142, (4), 1050–1057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Muth, M. K.; Thurman, W. N., Why support the price of honey? Choices 1995, 10, 19–21.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Mouton, M. Significance of Direct and Indirect Pollination Ecosystem Services to the Apple Industry in the Western Cape of South Africa. University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Mwebaze, P.; Marris, G. C.; Budge, G. E.; Brown, M.; Potts, S. G.; Breeze, T. D.; MacLeod, A., Quantifying the value of ecosystem services: a case study of honeybee pollination in the UK. In 12th Annual BIOECON Conference ‘From the Wealth of Nations to the Wealth of Nature: Rethinking Economic Growth, Venice, Italy, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Chaplin-Kramer, R.; Tuxen-Bettman, K.; Kremen, C., Value of wildland habitat for supplying pollination services to Californian agriculture. Rangelands 2011, 33, 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Morandin, L. A.; Winston, M. L., Pollinators provide economic incentive to preserve natural land in agroecosystems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 2006, 116, (3–4), 289–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Olschewski, R.; Tscharntke, T.; Benítez, P. C.; Schwarze, S.; Klein, A.-M., Economic evaluation of pollination services comparing coffee landscapes in Ecuador and Indonesia. Ecology and Society 2006, 11, (1), article 7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Ricketts, T. H.; Daily, G. C.; Ehrlich, P. R.; Michener, C. D., Economic value of tropical forest to coffee production. PNAS 2004, 101, (34), 12579–12582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Jordan, A.; Patch, H. M.; Grozinger, C. M.; Khanna, V., Economic dependence and vulnerability of United States agricultural sector on insect-mediated pollination service. Environmental science & technology 2021, 55, (4), 2243–2253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Breeze, T. D.; Bailey, A.; Potts, S. G.; Balcombe, K. G., A Stated Preference Valuation of the Non-Market Benefits of Pollination Services in the UK. Ecological Economics 2015, 111, 76–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Bruel, A.; Troussier, N.; Guillaume, B.; Sirina, N. In Considering Ecosystem Services in Life Cycle Assessment to Evaluate Environmental Externalities, 23rd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, 2016; 2016; pp 382–287.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Zhang, Y.; Singh, S.; Bakshi, B. R., Accounting for Ecosystem Services in Life Cycle Assessment, Part I: A Critical Review. Environmental Science & Technology 2010, 44, 2232–2242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Carnegie Mellon University Green Design Institiute, Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA). In 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  54. The Ohio State University Center of Resilience, Ecologically-Based Life Cycle Assessment (Eco-LCA). In 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Zhang, Y.; Baral, A.; Bakshi, B. R., Accounting for Ecosystem Services in Life Cycle Assessment Part II: Toward an Ecologically Based LCA. Environmental Science & Technology 2010, 44, (7).

    Google Scholar 

  56. Sharp, R.; Tallis, H. T.; Ricketts, T. H.; Guerry, A. D.; Wood, S. A.; Chaplin-Kramer, R.; Nelson, E.; Ennaanay, D.; Wolny, S.; Olwero, N.; Vigerstol, K.; Pennington, D.; Mendoza, G.; Aukema, J.; Foster, J.; Forrest, J.; Cameron, D.; Arkema, K.; Lonsdorf, E.; Kennedy, C.; Verutes, G.; Kim, C.-K.; Guannel, G.; Papenfus, M.; Toft, J.; Marsik, M.; Bernhardt, J.; Griffin, R.; Glowinski, K.; Chaumont, N.; Perelman, A.; Lacayo, M.; Mandle, L.; Hamel, P.; Vogl, A. L.; Rogers, L.; Bierbower, W.; Denu, D.; Douglass, J., InVEST: Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs. In Project, T. N. C.; University, S.; Minnesota, U. o.; Conservancy, T. N.; Fund, W. W., Eds. 2020.

    Google Scholar 

  57. Crenna, E.; Sala, S.; Polce, C.; Collina, E., Pollinators in life cycle assessment: towards a framework for impact assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production 2017, 140, 525–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Matthews, H. S.; Hendrickson, C. T.; Matthews, D. H., Life Cycle Assessment: Quantitative Approaches for Decisions That Matter. 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Miller, R.; Blair, P., Input-Output Analysis: Foundations and Extensions. Prentice-Hall, Inc.: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1985.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  60. Lucas A. Garibaldi, I. S.-D., 2 Rachael Winfree,3 Marcelo A. Aizen, 4 Riccardo Bommarco,5 Saul A. Cunningham,6 Claire Kremen,7 Luísa G. Carvalheiro,8,9 Lawrence D. Harder,10 Ohad Afik,11 Ignasi Bartomeus,12 Faye Benjamin,3 Virginie Boreux,13,14 Daniel Cariveau,3 Natacha P. Chacoff,15 Jan H. Dudenhöffer,16 Breno M. Freitas,17 Jaboury Ghazoul,14 Sarah Greenleaf,7 Juliana Hipólito,18 Andrea Holzschuh,2 Brad Howlett,19 Rufus Isaacs,20 Steven K. Javorek,21 Christina M. Kennedy,22 Kristin M. Krewenka,23 Smitha Krishnan,14 Yael Mandelik,11 Margaret M. Mayfield,24 Iris Motzke,13,23 Theodore Munyuli,25 Brian A. Nault,26 Mark Otieno,27 Jessica Petersen,26 Gideon Pisanty,11 Simon G. Potts,27 Romina Rader,28 Taylor H. Ricketts,29 Maj Rundlöf,5,30 Colleen L. Seymour,31 Christof Schüepp,32,33 Hajnalka Szentgyörgyi,34 Hisatomo Taki,35 Teja Tscharntke,23 Carlos H. Vergara,36 Blandina F. Viana,18 Thomas C. Wanger,23 Catrin Westphal,23 Neal Williams,37 Alexandra M. Klein13, Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops Regardless of Honey Bee Abundance.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Island Press: Washington, DC, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Costanza, R.; d’Arge, R.; de Groot, R.; Farber, S.; Grasso, M.; Hannon, B.; Limburg, K.; Naeem, S.; O’Neill, R. V.; Paruelo, J.; Raskin, R. G.; Sutton, P.; van den Belt, M., The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 1997, 387, 253–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Hallmann, C. A.; Sorg, M.; Jongejans, E.; Siepel, H.; Hofland, N.; Schwan, H.; Stenmans, W.; Müller, A.; Sumser, H.; Hörren, T.; Goulson, D.; de Kroon, H., More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas. PLoS One 2017, 12, (10), e0185809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Sánchez-Bayo, F.; Wyckhuys, K. A. G., Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation 2019, 232, 8–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Christley, R. M.; Pinchbeck, G. L.; Bowers, R. G.; Clancy, D.; French, N. P.; Bennett, R.; Turner, J., Infection in Social Networks: Using Network Analysis to Identify High-Risk Individuals. American Journal of Epidemiology 2005, 162, (10), 1024–1031.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Deng, Y.; Jiang, Y.-H.; Yang, Y.; He, Z.; Luo, F.; Zhou, J., Molecular ecological network analyses. BMC Bioinformatics 2012, 13, (1), 113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. McNally, R. J., Can network analysis transform psychopathology? Behaviour Research and Therapy 2016, 86, 95–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Hafner-Burton, E. M.; Kahler, M.; Montgomery, A. H., Network Analysis for International Relations. International Organization 2009, 63, (3), 559–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Burkle, L. A.; Alarcon, R., The future of plant-pollinator diversity: Understanding interaction networks across time, space, and global change. American Journal of Botany 2011, 98, (3), 528–538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Kennedy, C. M.; Lonsdorf, E.; Neel, M. C.; Williams, N. M.; Ricketts, T. H.; Winfree, R.; Bommarco, R.; Brittain, C.; Burley, A. L.; Cariveau, D.; Carvalheiro, L. G.; Chacoff, N. P.; Cunningham, S. A.; Danforth, B. N.; Dudenhöffer, J.-H.; Elle, E.; Gaines, H. R.; Garibaldi, L. A.; Gratton, C.; Holzschuh, A.; Isaacs, R.; Javorek, S. K.; Jha, S.; Klein, A. M.; Krewenka, K.; Mandelik, Y.; Mayfield, M. M.; Morandin, L.; Neame, L. A.; Otieno, M.; Park, M.; Potts, S. G.; Rundlöf, M.; Saez, A.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Taki, H.; Viana, B. F.; Westphal, C.; Wilson, J. K.; Greenleaf, S. S.; Kremen, C., A global quantitative synthesis of local and landscape effects on wild bee pollinators in agroecosystems. Ecology Letters 2013, 16, (5), 584–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Döke, M. A.; Frazier, M.; Grozinger, C. M., Overwintering honey bees: biology and management. Current Opinion in Insect Science 2015, 10, 185–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Watkins de Jong, E.; DeGrandi-Hoffman, G.; Chen, Y.; Graham, H.; Ziolkowski, N., Effects of diets containing different concentrations of pollen and pollen substitutes on physiology, Nosema burden, and virus titers in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). Apidologie 2019, 50, (6), 845–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Ramos-Jiliberto, R.; Moisset De Espanés, P.; Franco-Cisterna, M.; Petanidou, T.; Vázquez, D. P., Phenology determines the robustness of plant–pollinator networks. Scientific Reports 2018, 8, (1).

    Google Scholar 

  74. Brittain, C.; Williams, N.; Kremen, C.; Klein, A.-M., Synergistic effects of non- Apis bees and honey bees for pollination services. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2013, 280, (1754), 20122767.

    Google Scholar 

  75. Honey Bee Colonies. In National Agricultural Statistics Service, A. S. B., Ed. 2018; p 20 pages.

    Google Scholar 

  76. Tulchinsky, T. H., Micronutrient Deficiency Conditions: Global Health Issues. Public Health Reviews 2010, 32, (1), 243–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  77. Eilers, E. J.; Kremen, C.; Smith Greenleaf, S.; Garber, A. K.; Klein, A.-M., Contribution of pollinator-mediated crops to nutrients in the human food supply. PLoS ONE 2011, 6, (6), e21363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  78. DellaPenna, D., Nutritional Genomics: Manipulating Plant Micronutrients to Improve Human Health. Science 1999, 285, (5426), 375–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Ellis, A. M.; Myers, S. S.; Ricketts, T. H., Do pollinators contribute to nutritional health? PLOS ONE 2015, 10, (1), e114805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Alex Jordan, Mason Unger & Vikas Khanna

Authors
  1. Alex Jordan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mason Unger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vikas Khanna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vikas Khanna .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, School of Sustainability, School of Complex Adaptive Systems, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Bhavik R. Bakshi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jordan, A., Unger, M., Khanna, V. (2023). The Significance of Insect Pollinators: Opportunities and Challenges. In: Bakshi, B.R. (eds) Engineering and Ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35692-6_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation