A new analysis in PNAS finds that 139 U.S. counties are at risk of a “pollinator mismatch” between the abundance of wild pollinators and the acreage of pollinator-dependent fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. Highlighted regions on this map have high demand for crop pollination by bees, but low predicted wild bee abundance.
Read our Policy Brief: New Analysis of Wild Bee Abundance Highlights Areas of Concerns. In brief, the study highlights the following policy implications:
• Counties with significant mismatch between crop pollination needs and wild bee abundance should be targeted for private and public habitat programs to support pollinators.
• Investment in monitoring programs is needed to understand future status and trends in wild bee populations and to reduce uncertainty about this in regions with limited information.
For more on this new national assessment of the status and trends of U.S. wild bee populations, read our post here: http://icpbees.org/wild-bee-declines-threaten-us-crop-pollination
MEDIA CONTACT: Basil Waugh, Communications Officer, Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, Tel: 802-656-8369, Email: bwaugh@uvm.edu.