To bee or not to bee: native pollinators face existential crisis
From Cosmos (31/12/24)…
To bee or not to bee: native pollinators face existential crisis
The beloved honeybee has become something of a symbol of environmental protection. The threat of declining populations in the 2000s drew out amateur beekeepers and blooming backyards, hoping to keep the bees healthy.
But honeybees are not the only form of bee. And scrupulous efforts to save them in the northern hemisphere may not be translating to the Antipodes.
“The reality is that honeybees are the last bee species on the planet that’s going to go extinct,” says Dr Kit Prendergast, a native bee ecologist at the University of Southern Queensland and Curtin University.
“And in Australia, they are livestock or feral. They’re not part of our indigenous biodiversity.”
Thyreus nitidulus. Credit: Dr Kit Prendergast, the Bee Babette
Australia boasts more than 1,600 described species of native bee, with another 500 known about but not scientifically named. These bees are crucial parts of the native ecosystem, providing pollination for a range of very selective plants.
Are they in trouble? When Professor Graham Pyke, an ecologist at Macquarie University, went looking for evidence, he found there had been “hardly any emphasis down under” on native bee populations in research.
“One obvious possible conclusion is there’s no reason for concern down under, because the pollination crisis has somehow missed us. We don’t need to be worried,” says Pyke.
Adawsoni trichodesma. Credit: Dr Kit Prendergast, the Bee Babette
