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.
In the first long-term, community-level field study of wild bumble bee nutrition, a team of ecologists led by Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden discovered that wild bees aren't just flitting from flower ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 26, 2025
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Pollinators receive considerable interest due to their fundamental role in ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Unlike farmlands, studies of urban pollinator-promoting interventions have only started to grow rapidly ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 22, 2025
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A new study led by the University of Oxford in collaboration with Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, University of Greenwich, and the Technical University of Denmark could provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution to help ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 20, 2025
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People often prioritize aesthetics when choosing plants for their gardens. They may pick flowers based on colors that create visually appealing combinations and varieties that have bigger and brighter displays or more fragrant ...
Ecology
Aug 19, 2025
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New Cornell research offers alternatives to a class of insecticides that has devastating ecological impacts, especially to pollinators, beneficial insects and aquatic invertebrates. A paper published online in Crop Protection ...
Biotechnology
Aug 13, 2025
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Montana State University-led research finds that bees with deformed wing virus flew shorter distances, whereas bees with sacbrood virus flew greater distances at higher speeds.
Pollinators play a vital role in fertilizing flowers, which grow into seeds and fruits and underpin our agriculture. But climate change can cause a mismatch between plants and their pollinators, affecting where they live ...
Ecology
Aug 11, 2025
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Insects are arguably the most important animals on the planet. Their variety is unparalleled in nature, and they carry out vital tasks such as pollinating plants and providing food for other animals.
Ecology
Aug 10, 2025
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A new paper in Annals of Botany indicates that pollination can have a dramatic effect on how plants grow and change. The study shows that when plants and pollinators become uncoordinated, even for a brief time, they can change ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2025
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77
Increasing urbanization is linked to a decline in crucial pollinator populations, including nocturnal moths, hoverflies, and bees, according to a new study from the University of Sheffield.
Plants & Animals
Aug 5, 2025
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