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.
Solar farms could become important refuges for bumblebees in Britain, a new study reveals—though their benefits only go so far.
Plants & Animals
Oct 8, 2025
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55
New research from the University of Waikato shows how nectar supply varies with changes to climate, offering sweet insights for industry and conservation alike.
Plants & Animals
Oct 3, 2025
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33
Native animals can make excellent neighbors. Blue-banded bees pollinate our vegetable gardens. Microbats eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes a night and powerful owls keep rodents at bay. But could we go one step further, and change ...
Ecology
Oct 1, 2025
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From the Miami blue to the Schaus' swallowtail, South Florida is home to many endangered and declining pollinator species that only exist here.
Plants & Animals
Sep 30, 2025
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19
Bees and butterflies help produce our food by pollinating the crops farmers grow. In fact, 35% of the world's food crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, depend on pollinators.
Ecology
Sep 25, 2025
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81
Improving biodiversity and maintaining yields at the same time? For many, this sounds like a contradiction in terms. However, a new study by the University of Würzburg shows that both are possible under the right conditions.
Ecology
Sep 25, 2025
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19
Bee experts wouldn't have previously expected to find the likes of Osmia cyaneonitens, Dufourea dilatipes and Stelis heronae in Washington. But this year, researchers added eight new bee species to a list of the state's native ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 24, 2025
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244
Ko Mochizuki of the University of Tokyo has discovered that Vincetoxicum nakaianum (a dogbane species native to Japan described for the first time by Mochizuki and his collaborators only a year ago) mimics the smell of ants ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 24, 2025
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470
A bane of farmers' existence, it's estimated that plant-eating pests are responsible for the loss of up to 40% of pre-harvest yields globally. But a new generation of crop treatments that target only "bad" bugs could mean ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 23, 2025
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33
Spring in Australia has arrived like a celebration. Magpies are warbling in the morning, wildflowers are bursting open across bushland, and the air is humming with life as tiny creatures have stirred back into action after ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 23, 2025
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