The Plight of the Pollinators

[marmar]

from Civil Eats:


The Plight of the Pollinators
By Jason Mark on September 30, 2013


It appears we may be on the verge of a new silent spring, a season marked, not by the absence of birdsong, but by the lack of insect buzzing.

A range of flying invertebrates—from the iconic monarch butterfly, to moths you’ve never heard of, to a number of once-common bumblebees—are suffering significant declines. Some biologists are warning that the losses could have serious consequences for the food web and for human agriculture, especially since native pollinators are far more important for food crop pollination than the domesticated European honeybee.

No doubt you’ve heard the buzz by now: Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are in serious trouble. In 2005, beekeepers in Europe and North America started to report worrisome declines in their hives, sometimes with annual loses exceeding 50 percent. The epidemic, dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD), sparked a race to figure out the cause, or causes, of the die-offs.

.....(snip).....

All of this attention on the honeybee’s poor health is important because it’s an opportunity to illustrate our utter reliance on other creatures. But often lost amid the honeybee anxiety is a much bigger story: The decline of native bumblebees, butterflies and moths, which are even more important for pollination. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2013/09/30/the-plight-of-the-pollinators/#sthash.aX2syvMh.dpuf

[MuseRider]

1. It is so bad here this summer that

I don't know what will happen.

It may only be that we are in a 3 year drought that is significant. Almost the entire eastern 2/3rds of my state have been taken out of the drought but my area in the middle of that is dying. I saw 2 hummingbirds this year but I did not see them until last week as they migrate through. No bees, not honey bees and no bumble bees until this fall when instead of my crop I have a farm that is almost white with asters. Now as you walk out the door you can hear the buzzing and when you walk through you walk through a cloud of honey bees and butterflies and moths. Now, in September, finally. The cooler weather? The fact that we got a little tiny bit of rain the other day? Whatever, I am so grateful to see them and I did see one bumble bee just this morning.

My husband and I have seen no cardinals since spring, no bluebirds, no robins. There have been no chickadees, no orioles since spring. All I see are a few grackles and starlings and of course a few herons still frequent what remains of my ponds. The sky is unpopulated, no bird song and I have areas full of trees to provide for them. They are not here.

This place was alive when I bought it 17 years ago. The birdseed in my feeders spoiled and I took them down. It is dead now, no rabbits. I saw a fox, one fox and we don't even hear coyotes anymore. No turkeys or even mice and not one frog. NOT ONE frog this year in my ponds. A couple of American toads at the barn and one black snake and that is all.

This year I knew, we are truly screwed.

[RobertEarl]

2. I fear we are truly screwed

I live in an almost pristine environment of woods. The lack of insects is amazing. Bird populations have fallen by 90% too.

I've asked the old timers what they think and they don't know but they do recognize the changes in populations. I have my theories.....

[MuseRider]

3. I have a few as well

but then I just can't live with them.

It is almost unbearable. Of all the creatures on the planet I could live without it would be most of the humans yet we are losing all the creatures I want most in my life. Now that is just the selfish part, those we are losing are also the one's that matter if we are to survive. Greed and profit are killing is all.

Just read about Foxboro, Utah and Stericycle in TruthOut. If things like that are allowed in this country, and it has been for several decades, we don't even know who we are yet.

[surrealAmerican]

4. Kick.

Without our pollinators, we will not eat. We can't afford to put off action.