The Forgotten pollinators

Consider this: Without interaction between animals and flowering plants, the seeds and fruits that make up nearly eighty percent of the human diet would not exist. In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's leading authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan, award-winning writer and renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital but little-appreciated relationship between plants and the animals they depend on for reproduction -- bees, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals, some widely recognized and other almost unknown. Scenes from around the globe -- examining island flora and fauna on the Galapagos, counting bees in the Panamanian rain forest, witnessing an ancient honey-hunting ritual in Malaysia -- bring to life the hidden relationships between plants and animals, and demonstrate the ways in which human society affects and is affected by those relationships. Buchmann and Nabhan combine vignettes from the field with expository discussions of ecology, botany, and crop science to present a lively and fascinating account of the ecological and cultural context of plant-pollinator relationships. More than any other natural process, plant-pollinator relationships offer vivid examples of the connections between endangered species and threatened habitats. The authors explain how human-induced changes in pollinator populations -- caused by overuse of chemical pesticides, unbridled development, and conversion of natural areas into monocultural cropland-can have a ripple effect on disparate species, ultimately leading to a "cascade of linked extinctions."

"A Shearwater book."

1. Silent Springs and Fruitless Falls: The Impending Pollination Crisis -- 2. Flowers: Waiting for Their Ships to Come In -- 3. Pollinators: Waiting for the Bait to Pervade the Air -- 4. The Perils of Matchmaking: Pollination Syndromes and Plant/Pollinator Landscapes -- 5. Bees in the Bestiary, Bats in the Belfry: A Menagerie of Pollinators -- 6. Fractured Fairy Tales: Disruptions in Fragmented Habitats -- 7. Need Nectar, Will Travel: Threats to Migratory Pollinators -- 8. Holding the Globe in Our Hands: The Relentless Pressures on Plants and Pollinators -- 9. Keepers of the Flame: Honey Hunters and Beekeepers form Ancient to Present Times -- 10. New Bee on the Block: Competition between Honeybees and Native Pollinators -- 11. The Little Lives Keeping Crops Fruitful: The Economics of Pollination -- 12. Cultivating Lasting Relationships: Pollinator Gardens and Ecological Restoration.