Human Impact on Pollinators and Their Impact on Us

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          Pollinators are essential to the human way of life that we are all accustomed to now. Pollinators range from insects to birds to mammals and they all help our ecosystems and boost crop yields each year around the world. In fact, pollinators are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food that we eat (WFM). In North America 99 percent of pollinators are insects, with anywhere from 75-95 percent of all flowering plants needing pollinators to thrive (Witter). Agriculture in the United State is important, with over 2,000,000 farms spread throughout the nation in 2017 (Statistica). Many farms rely heavily on pollinators to help produce successful crop yields each year, domesticated bees being the main pollinator.  

Pollinators are suffering detrimental losses each year, especially bees. There are 8 different bee species that are threatened or endangered and about 37 other insect pollinators (U.S Fish and Wildlife Services). This posses a big problem, as colony collapse disorder, mites and pathogens cause big declines in bee population levels, however there is a big impact we humans are having on bees and other pollinator populations and it has it do with insecticides.

In 2013, the European Commission(EC) imposed a ban on a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, which restricted the use of 3 major types on seeds, grains and plants that are attractive to bees, due to the gravity of the declined pollinator population levels (Grossman). At that time, many placed the sole blame for bee population declines on neonicotinoids, but in recent times, evidence shows heavily the negative impact the pesticide has on bees. A study found that even when no chemicals were used on site, there was neonicotinoid residue found even after the ban years before. Even just the residue has been linked to fewer queen bees and fewer egg cells, thus impacting the population size (Wong). The problem with pesticides isn’t just within the U.S, but also overseas. In Germany alone, 50-60 percent of bees died off with the blame placed heavily on pesticides even when the cause for the population decline was unknown (Curry).

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There was another study done that showed that the toxicity of neonicotinoids increased when present together with a commonly used fungicide (Wong). There are 3 tiers to pesticide toxicity: highly toxic, toxic and relatively nontoxic. Tier I (highly toxic and toxic) pesticides now are required to have text on the label clearly identifying how to properly use the product to reduce the risk to pollinators, with some relatively nontoxic products voluntarily putting the text on the label. This is good, however there are flaws to toxicity, such as high exposure rate to low toxicity having the same affects as low exposure to high toxicity. Another flaw, is the toxicity of insecticides when combined with fungicide, some making a more potent mixture than the two were when separate(Phillips, Schuh). We have to be more careful as to what we spray and pay more attention to labels on products such as the pesticides used and what is being used in conjunction with those sprays.  

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There are actions we can take to help save bees and other pollinators. We can decrease the amount of exposure to pesticides/insecticides/fungicides by not applying product until flowering is complete, or not applying to pollen shedding parts of plants (as that will harm the bees), target sprays once foraging is done for the day and avoid getting spray into puddles (as the water from those puddles can then in turn poison the bees) (Phillips, Schuh). Another thing we can do as a community, is plant native species to attract the bees and pollinators as both will thrive better under these conditions. There is a site that can be used to determine what flowers are best to plant in your area and the plants are ranked by the number of butterfly and moth species who use them to host their caterpillars, which will help pollinator populations increase. You can also build bird houses, plant milkweed for monarchs, put out hummingbird feeders, apply organic fertilizer and plant herbs, perennials and annuals that bees love (Stahl). With more people becoming aware of the problem and more trying to help, we can reduce our negative impact on pollinators and increase their positive impact on us.

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Curry, Andrew. “Bee Emergency: Unexplained Mass Die-Off Hits German Hives - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International.” SPIEGEL ONLINE, SPIEGEL ONLINE, 9 May 2008, www.spiegel.de/international/germany/bee-emergency-unexplained-mass-die-off-hits-german-hives-a-552556.html.

Grossman, Elizabeth. “Declining Bee Populations Pose a Threat to Global Agriculture.” Yale E360, Apr. 2013, e360.yale.edu/features/declining_bee_populations_pose_a_threat_to_global_agriculture.

Phillips, Ben, and Marissa Schuh. “Vegetable Pesticide Series: Should I Use It during Bloom?” MSU Extension, 20 Sept. 2018, www.canr.msu.edu/news/vegetable_pesticide_series_should_i_use_it_during_bloom.

“Pollinators: The Endangered Species Program.” Official Site of the U S Fish and Wildlife Service, Nov. 2017, www.fws.gov/pollinators/Programs/Endangered.html.

Stahl, Toni. “Garden for Hummingbirds, Bees, Wildlife. Native Plants...” GARDENOPOLIS Cleveland, 11 Apr. 2019, www.gardenopoliscleveland.org/2019/04/garden-for-hummingbirds-bees-wildlife-native-plants/.

“U.S. Farming: Total Number of Farms 2017 | Statistic.” Statista, Feb. 2018, www.statista.com/statistics/196103/number-of-farms-in-the-us-since-2000/.

WFM. “Protecting Pollinators.” Whole Foods Market, 4 May 2016, www.wholefoodsmarket.com/pollinators.

Witter, Karen Ackerman. “Landscape with Native Plants and Pollinators.” IllinoisTimes, 11 Apr. 2019, 12:15a.m, illinoistimes.com/article-21126-landscape-with-native-plants-and-pollinators.html.

Wong, Sam. “Strongest Evidence Yet That Neonicotinoids Are Killing Bees.” New Scientist, 3 July 2017, www.newscientist.com/article/2139197-strongest-evidence-yet-that-neonicotinoids-are-killing-bees/.