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This study was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) under Award No. 59-0790-3-201 and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) under Grant Agreement No. 03HQGR0131. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the USDA-ARS or USGS, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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Cover: Design by Van Nguyen. Photo credits clockwise from top left: hummingbird by W. May; sphinx moth by W. May; bat by Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, reprinted with permission; bee by David Inouye, University of Maryland, College Park.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
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COMMITTEE ON STATUS OF POLLINATORS IN NORTH AMERICA
MAY BERENBAUM (Chair),
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
PETER BERNHARDT,
St. Louis University, Missouri
STEPHEN BUCHMANN,
University of Arizona, Tucson
NICHOLAS W. CALDERONE,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
PAUL GOLDSTEIN,
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville
DAVID W. INOUYE,
University of Maryland, College Park
PETER KEVAN,
University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
CLAIRE KREMEN,
University of California, Berkeley
RODRIGO A. MEDELLÍN,
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City
TAYLOR RICKETTS,
World Wildlife Fund, Washington, D.C.
GENE E. ROBINSON,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
ALLISON A. SNOW,
Ohio State University, Columbus
SCOTT M. SWINTON,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
LEONARD B. THIEN,
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
F. CHRISTIAN THOMPSON,
Systematic Entomology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Staff
EVONNE P.Y. TANG, Study Director
FRANCES E. SHARPLES, Director, Board on Life Sciences
ROBIN A. SCHOEN, Director, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources
PEGGY TSAI, Associate Program Officer
KAREN IMHOF, Administrative Assistant
KATE KELLY, Editor
PAULA WHITACRE, Editor
BOARD ON LIFE SCIENCES
KEITH YAMAMOTO (Chair),
University of California, San Francisco
ANN M. ARVIN,
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
JEFFREY L. BENNETZEN,
University of Georgia, Athens
RUTH BERKELMAN,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
DEBORAH BLUM,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
R. ALTA CHARO,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
JEFFREY L. DANGL,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
PAUL R. EHRLICH,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
MARK D. FITZSIMMONS,
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, Illinois
JO HANDELSMAN,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
ED HARLOW,
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
KENNETH H. KELLER,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
RANDALL MURCH,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Alexandria
GREGORY A. PETSKO,
Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
MURIEL E. POSTON,
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
JAMES REICHMAN,
University of California, Santa Barbara
MARC T. TESSIER-LAVIGNE,
Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California
JAMES TIEDJE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
TERRY L. YATES,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
Staff
FRANCES E. SHARPLES, Director
KERRY A. BRENNER, Senior Program Officer
ANN H. REID, Senior Program Officer
MARILEE K. SHELTON-DAVENPORT, Senior Program Officer
EVONNE P.Y. TANG, Senior Program Officer
ROBERT T. YUAN, Senior Program Officer
ADAM P. FAGEN, Program Officer
ANNA FARRAR, Financial Associate
ANNE F. JURKOWSKI, Senior Program Assistant
TOVA G. JACOBOVITS, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
W. REG GOMES (Chair),
University of California, Oakland
SANDRA J. BARTHOLMEY,
University of Illinois, Chicago
ROGER N. BEACHY,
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri
H. H. CHENG,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
BRUCE L. GARDNER,
University of Maryland, College Park
JEAN HALLORAN,
Consumer Policy Institute/Consumers Union, Yonkers, New York
HANS R. HERREN,
Millennium Institute, Arlington, Virginia
KIRK C. KLASING,
University of California, Davis
BRIAN W. MCBRIDE,
University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
TERRY L. MEDLEY,
E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Delaware
ROBERT PAARLBERG,
Wellesley College, Watertown, Massachusetts
ALICE N. PELL,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
BOBBY PHILLS,
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
SONYA B. SALAMON,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
HAL SALWASSER,
Oregon State University, Corvallis
PEDRO A. SANCHEZ,
The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Palisades, New York
B. L. TURNER, II,
Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
LAURIAN UNNEVEHR,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
JAW-KAI WANG,
University of Hawaii, Honolulu
TILAHUN D. YILMA,
University of California, Davis
Staff
ROBIN A. SCHOEN, Director
AUSTIN J. LEWIS, Program Officer
MICHAEL MA, Program Officer
PEGGY TSAI, Associate Program Officer
RUTH S. ARIETI, Senior Project Assistant
KAREN L. IMHOF, Administrative Assistant
Preface
The magnitude and direction of all manner of anthropogenic global environmental change have lately come to dominate the national conversation: at the movies, on the Internet, and in the press. Entering the term “environmental crisis” on Google generates close to 52 million hits, and the debate is raging over the validity of various projections of consequences and diverse proposals for remediation. Of the multitude of ways humans could be harming the planet, however, one that has largely been ignored is the “pollinator crisis”—the perceived global decline in the number and viability of animal species that facilitate reproduction of flowering plants, the overwhelming majority of plants in terrestrial communities. In her hugely influential book Silent Spring published more than 40 years ago, Rachel Carson recognized the central role of pollinators. They are the proverbial birds and the bees, along with many other insect species and even a handful of mammals, that maintain human health and terrestrial biodiversity. Carson painted a bleak picture of a world with “fruitless falls.” In the intervening decades, reports have quietly accumulated from virtually every continent of shortages or extinction of pollinators of various descriptions.
Ironically, despite its apparent lack of marquee appeal, pollinator decline is one form of global change that actually does have credible potential to alter the shape and structure of the terrestrial world. Over the past decade, the public has begun to take notice and ask whether a pollinator crisis is brewing and, if so, what can be done to avert it. The National Research Council, in keeping with its charter to provide independent, objective analysis and advice on scientific matters of national importance, took on this issue at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S.
Geological Survey and commissioned a study; overseeing the study process were the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Board on Life Sciences.
Because the efforts of pollination are so pervasive ecologically and economically, the committee charged with assessing the status of pollinators required representation of a breadth of interests and abilities. The 15 members came from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and their expertise encompasses ecology, population biology, ethology, genetics, evolutionary biology, botany, entomology, systematics, agricultural economics, apiculture, and conservation biology (Appendix A). The committee devoted more than a year to examining literature, meeting with the experts who are most familiar with the lives of pollinators, and meeting with people whose livelihoods depend on pollinator activities. Evonne Tang, Senior Program Officer for the Board of Life Sciences, labored brilliantly and tirelessly to arrange meetings, secure information, make contacts, and reconcile and edit numerous versions of the report. Fran Sharples, Director of the Board on Life Sciences, was generous with administrative, scientific, and moral support. From the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Robin Schoen, director; Karen Imhof, administrative assistant; and Peggy Tsai, research associate, provided invaluable guidance, organizational effort, and logistical assistance in support of the project
It seems particularly appropriate that a study examining the health and well-being of the premier ecological mutualism on the planet should result from mutual respect and cooperation among a group of dedicated scholars. That the conclusions reached by the committee and presented in this report will inspire a rash of Hollywood disaster films is extremely unlikely—tidal waves, floods, fires, and explosions still remain inherently more cinematic than just about anything involving flowers, birds, bees, and butterflies—but it is to be hoped that the recommendations will inspire discussion and action nonetheless.
May Berenbaum
Chair, Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America
Acknowledgments
This report is a product of the cooperation and contributions of many people. The members of the committee thank all of the speakers who attended its first committee meeting on July 6, 2005, the workshop on October 18–19, 2005, and the third committee meeting on January 14, 2006 and others who provided information and input. (Appendix B presents a list of presentations to the committee.)
This report has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following for their review of this report:
Deane Bowers, University of Colorado, Boulder
Susan Mazer, University of California, Santa Barbara
Robert Page, Arizona State University
Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden
Malcolm Sanford (retired), University of Florida
Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota
James Thomson, University of Toronto
Nickolas Waser, University of California, Riverside
Don Wilson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ada Wossink, North Carolina State University
Although the reviewers listed above provided constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Drs. Frederic L. Gould and Mary Jane Osborn. Appointed by the National Research Council, Drs. Gould and Osborn were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the author committee and the institution.