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Status of Pollinators in North America
long-term bird banding stations or by long-term individual banders that could add to the incomplete data for hummingbirds. Long-term monitoring of bird-pollinated plants also could provide useful information on the stability of the ecosystem services they provide, particularly if plants pollinated solely by the birds are chosen.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the paucity of long-term data, collectively there is reliable evidence that some North American pollinator species have become extinct or locally extirpated, or have exhibited decreases in population size (Table 2-6). At least two bumble bee species could face imminent extinction, and several other pollinators have declined significantly (honey bees and U.S. and Mexi-
TABLE 2-6 Illustrative Examples of Pollinators in North America for Which Evidence of Decline Is Available
Common Name
Species Name
Location
Species for Which Quantitative Data Are Available
Hymenoptera
Honey bee
Apis mellifera
United States
Honey bee
A. mellifera
Mexico
Franklin’s bumble bee
Bombus franklini
Pacific Northwest of the United States
Western bumble bee
B. occidentalis
Central California
Bumble bee
B. affinis
New York
Lepidoptera
Bay checkerspot butterfly
Euphydryas editha bayensis
Palo Alto, California and other localities
Chiroptera
Long-nosed bat
Leptonycteris curasoae
United States and Mexico
Long-nosed bat
L. nivalis
United States and Mexico
Apodiformes
Rufous hummingbird
Selasphorus rufus
United States and Canada
Allen’s hummingbird
S. sasin
United States
Species for Which Quantitative Data Are Not Available
