More than one in five species of pollinators native to Canada and the United States are at risk of extinction, a new study suggests.
Nearly 23 percent of vertebrate and insect pollinators native to mainland North America, north of Mexico, have an “elevated” risk of extinction, according to a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal on March 24.
Factors behind the increased risk include land use changes, the proliferation of invasive plant species, pesticide exposure, climate change, disease, and modifications to hydrological and fire regimes.
“Pollinators are critical to maintaining terrestrial ecosystem function and the global food supply, but many are in decline,” reads the study….