Importance of Pollinators
Pollinators play an essential role in the reproduction of over 85% of the world’s flowering plants, including many of the foods we eat every day. “Pollinators add 217 billion dollars to the global economy, and honey bees alone are responsible for between 1.2 and 5.4 billion dollars in agricultural productivity in the United States.” Pollinator.org
Pollinators are vital to agriculture; many fruits, vegetable and grains are derived through animal pollination. Indeed, even many agriculturally-produced animals rely on bee-pollinated forage and hay crops like alfalfa and clover.
But pollinators benefit more than just humans. They are an essential part of the functioning of food webs around the world. Many plants need these pollinators to reproduce, and without that assistance, those plant species would decline or even disappear. The fruits and seeds that are formed after pollination happens are a major part of the diet of around twenty-five percent of all birds and mammals (chipmunks, bears, squirrels, voles, and more). Those little pollinators have a big role to play!
“The truth is that we need invertebrates but they don’t need us. If human beings were to disappear tomorrow, the world would go on with little change…But if invertebrates were to disappear, I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months. Most of the fishes, amphibians, birds and mammals would crash to extinction about the same time. Next would go the bulk of the flowering plants and with them the physical structure of the majority of forests and other terrestrial habitats of the world. The earth would rot.”
~ E. O. Wilson
Get more information about Pollinators
Where can you buy locally raised native plants for your garden? Our annual Pollinator Palooza Native Plant Sale.