Publication Date:
2014-12-17
Description:
Pollinators are fundamental to maintaining both biodiversity and agricultural productivity, but habitat destruction, loss of flower resources, and increased use of pesticides are causing declines in their abundance and diversity. Using historical records, we assessed the rate of extinction of bee and flower-visiting wasp species in Britain from the mid-19th century to the present. The most rapid phase of extinction appears to be related to changes in agricultural policy and practice beginning in the 1920s, before the agricultural intensification prompted by the Second World War, often cited as the most important driver of biodiversity loss in Britain. Slowing of the extinction rate from the 1960s onward may be due to prior loss of the most sensitive species and/or effective conservation programs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ollerton, Jeff -- Erenler, Hilary -- Edwards, Mike -- Crockett, Robin -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2014 Dec 12;346(6215):1360-2. doi: 10.1126/science.1257259.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton, Avenue Campus, Northampton NN2 6JD, UK. jeff.ollerton@northampton.ac.uk. ; Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton, Avenue Campus, Northampton NN2 6JD, UK. ; Lea-Side, Carron Lane, Midhurst GU29 9LB, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25504719" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
*Agriculture/history/methods
;
Animals
;
*Bees
;
Biodiversity
;
*Extinction, Biological
;
*Flowers
;
Great Britain
;
History, 19th Century
;
History, 20th Century
;
Linear Models
;
Pollen
;
*Pollination
;
Population Dynamics
;
*Wasps
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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