Biodiversity: wild flowers threatened by pollinator decline
DECRYPTION – Pollinators, such as bees or hummingbirds, whose populations are decreasing, allow these plants to reproduce.
Of the approximately 350,000 species of flowering plants recorded around the world, about half depend on pollinators to reproduce, either mainly or entirely. This dependence makes them particularly vulnerable to the decline of bees, bumblebees, butterflies or hummingbirds. But how threatened are they?
Read alsoA beekeeper deputy passes a text to save bees, threatened in France
In a study published on October 13 in the journal Science Advances , a team of international researchers finds that without pollinators, a third of species of wildflower plants would not produce any seeds. And half would experience an 80% or more reduction in their fertility. Self-fertilization, a process by which certain plants can also reproduce, would therefore be far from fully compensating for the decline of pollinators.
General decline
The latter is however very real, recalls Mickaël Henry, director of the bees and environment research unit at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRAE): “In France, each year, approximately
This article is for subscribers only. You have 76% left to discover.
Pushing back the limits of science is also freedom.
Continue reading your article for € 1 the first month
Already subscribed? Log in
.
