Understanding our urban pollinators

External sourceSep 22, 2014in Conservation & Ecology

UK - Pollinators such as the Common Blue butterfly, which is shown in the image above, play a vital role in maintaining our food supplies. But like many others, these species are struggling in the UK countryside.

UK apples, strawberries, raspberries, beans and tomatoes are all reliant on insect pollinators. Globally, crop pollination services are estimated to be worth $153 billion per year.

Understanding the influences that the landscape and other environmental factors can have on our pollinators is therefore of huge importance.

The Urban Pollinators Project, led by scientists at the University of Bristol, is studying how effective our towns and cities are for our bees and other pollinators.

A staggering 98 per cent of the country's flower-rich meadows have been lost since the end of the Second World War but gardens, allotments and other flower-rich habitats in urban areas could provide a haven for these important insects.

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Conservation & ecology