Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026

In Vitro Rearing of Solitary Bees: A Tool for Assessing Larval Risk Factors
Published on: July 16, 2018
Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers
Simon G Potts1, Jacobus C Biesmeijer, Claire Kremen
1Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK, RG6 6AR. s.g.potts@reading.ac.uk
Abstract:
Pollinators are a key component of global biodiversity, providing vital ecosystem services to crops and wild plants. There is clear evidence of recent declines in both wild and domesticated pollinators, and parallel declines in the plants that rely upon them. Here we describe the nature and extent of reported declines, and review the potential drivers of pollinator loss, including habitat loss and fragmentation, agrochemicals, pathogens, alien species, climate change and the interactions between them. Pollinator declines can result in loss of pollination services which have important negative ecological and economic impacts that could significantly affect the maintenance of wild plant diversity, wider ecosystem stability, crop production, food security and human welfare.
Related Concept Videos
Pollination and Flower Structure
Threats to Biodiversity
Conservation of Declining Populations
Migration
What is Conservation Biology?
Habitat Fragmentation

