Scientists Measure Decline in Bees and Flowering Plants

By David McAlary
Washington
20 July 2006

Scientists report that the diversity of bees and the flowering plants they pollinate has declined in Britain and the Netherlands, a possible indicator of the problem worldwide. Other scientists worried about species extinction call for the formation of an international body to monitor such threats to biological diversity, similar to one that now tracks global warming.

Bees and other insects are essential to the reproduction of many agricultural crops and wild plants. At the University of Leeds in Britain, researcher William Kunin explains. "Pollinators are intrinsically tied to interactions with plant species, and so the pollination of crop plants and wild plants is of both ecological value and economic value. Estimates go up to about 150-billion dollars a year in economic value that is provided by wild pollinators," he said.