Global pollination analysis reveals climate explains specialized partnerships better than latitude
An international study led by researchers from Charles University in Prague (CUNI) and the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (BC CAS) has mapped how closely flowering plants and their pollinators depend on each other.
An international study led by researchers from Charles University in Prague (CUNI) and the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (BC CAS) has mapped how closely flowering plants and their pollinators depend on each other.
The short version
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- Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution , the study shows that climate is the main force behind these patterns, a finding that challenges the classic expectation that pollination becomes more specialized toward the tropics.
- Much of the green world depends on animals carrying pollen from flower to flower.
What happened
Pollination enables plants to reproduce, maintain genetic diversity and produce fruits and seeds that feed countless animals. Flowers, in turn, provide nectar and pollen that sustain an astonishing variety of pollinators.
Why it matters
Bees may be the best known, but flies, beetles, butterflies, moths, wasps and even birds and lizards also fill that role.
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