TORONTO -- Experts are once again urging Canadians to help save wild bees after yet another study predicted a dire future for the species crucial to our food system, and they say anyone with a backyard can help the cause.
Climate change and the loss of natural habitats due to urban development play a large part in the sharp decline of pollination sources for the buzzing insects, according to a that analyzed more than 100 years of data related to bees. include chemical insecticides, parasites and geographical displacement.
Sandra Rehan, a biology professor and expert in wild bee genomics at York University, told 麻豆传媒 Channel that Canadians can do their part to save the species by planting wildflowers.
鈥淚n a study last year studying over 120 wild bee species, 14 are in decline,鈥� Rehan told 麻豆传媒 Channel on Saturday. 鈥淢any wild bees in general are in decline and it鈥檚 not subtle, its rather 70 to 90 per cent of the population.鈥�
Rehan and a team of researchers examined the relationship between wild bees and plants from 125 years ago to the present day and found that, within the last 30 years, there has been a loss of 94 per cent of plant-pollinator networks, which are networks made up of wild bees and the plants they regularly depend on.
While invasive species and the expansion of agriculture can harm these networks, climate change is the biggest factor, researchers say. Fluctuations in temperature can offset the blooming patterns for wildflowers and limit the timeframe for when bees can pollinate, Rehan said.
鈥淚n the north east, the climate has changed about two and a half degrees on average and with this it鈥檚 creating an offset,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he flowers are blooming a few days differently than they did normally and it鈥檚 affecting the bees because the bees are so in sync with their flower sources, and we think this is creating sort of this mismatch ...the flowers are out when the bees are not, and vice versa.鈥�
Wild bees pollinate more than 87 per cent of flowering plants, according to the study, making them an essential part of our ecosystem. About one-third of the foods eaten by humans come from plants pollinated by bees.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in hopes of curbing climate change is a long-term approach to fixing the problem, Rehan says. However, providing bees with a variety of pollination sources can help restore the plant-pollinator networks.
鈥淲hat we can do going forward for the bees is having a good variety available. They can only forage on what is available when they happen to be around, so people can plant wildflowers and we very much encourage native flowers,鈥� she said.
Having a wide variety of wildflowers available allows bees to find nutrients all season long as some plants bloom in different stages, according to the
Primrose, lavender, sunflowers and cosmos are among several plants known to attract bees, but Rehan says flowers native to your region are highly encouraged.
