Pollinators are organisms that mediate the transfer of pollen between the male and female reproductive structures of seed plants, thereby enabling sexual reproduction and gene flow within and among plant populations. They encompass a diverse set of taxa, including many insects (notably bees, flies, butterflies, moths, beetles), some vertebrates (such as birds and bats), and other animals that incidentally or actively collect floral resources like nectar and pollen. In ecological and evolutionary research, pollinators are central to studies of plant–animal mutualisms, floral trait adaptation, community assembly, and ecosystem functioning, as well as to analyses of network structure, coevolutionary dynamics, and the stability and resilience of plant–pollinator interaction webs.
A brush with low doses of the herbicide dicamba spurs oxalis, a weed commonly known as wood sorrel, to produce more flowers, University of Michigan researchers have discovered. The finding suggests that farmers and homeowners ...
Plants & Animals
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Two new research papers shed light on the growing practice of grazing sheep in fields with solar arrays. One demonstrates that, in the right numbers, sheep grazing increases populations of beneficial insects like bees and ...
Ecology
Oct 14, 2026
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Honeybees are outcompeting wild pollinators in the U.K., and new research has found evidence of their aggressive behavior, recording for the first time the extent to which they restrict access to food sources and attack and ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 14, 2026
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The decline of pollinator species due to habitat loss and pesticide use over recent decades has been a global concern. Pollinators like bees and butterflies support both wild plants and agricultural food production, but many ...
Bees, moths and other pollinating insects have a harder time smelling flowers in polluted air, according to research led by the University of Reading. Scientists analyzed 22 experimental studies on how the air pollutants ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2026
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Some flowers have petals with small semitranslucent sections. Research in New Phytologist reveals that these "windows" alter the amount of light and heat entering the flower and create conditions that influence microbial ...
Ecology
Oct 7, 2026
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Municipalities are increasingly mowing dikes and verges in stages, so that insects can make longer use of the plants growing there. Mowing is essential to keep a dike strong, explains ecologist Constant Swinkels of Radboud ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 5, 2026
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As they fly about their usual business of pollinating flowers, bumblebees could help protect fruit trees from disease by carrying a natural treatment directly to where it is needed.
Plants & Animals
Oct 5, 2026
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In front of most Australian houses, between the sidewalk and the road, runs a strip of land most people never really think about. In Australia, it's called the nature strip, but it goes by other names in other regions, including ...
Ecology
Oct 4, 2026
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Roadsides may not look like wildlife habitat, but a few simple changes to how they are maintained could turn them into much better places for pollinators. A new uOttawa-led study found that reducing mowing and herbicide use ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 2, 2026
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