The widespread decline of native pollinators in North America

Amid the uproar over mysterious disappearances of honeybee colonies, concern over the plight of native bees has been confined to scientists laboring in obscurity. Robbin Thorp of the University of California, Davis, a noted bumble bee authority and an emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis has watched local native bee populations steadily decrease over the last decades. In fact, 2006 was the last time he saw a Franklin's bumble bee Bombus franklini.

Bumblebees alone are responsible for pollinating 15 percent of the agriculture in the U.S., worth $3 billion. The decline, disappearance and possible demise of Franklin’s bumble bee, is closely linked to the widespread decline of native pollinators in North America, Thorp explains, and should concern all facets of society. “The loss of a native pollinator could strike a devastating blow to the ecosystem, economy and food supply.” Native bees may be a hundred times more efficient as pollinators than are honey-bees.

Source: My Granite Bay, 30 April 2011
http://my.granitebaypt.com/detail/177518.html