Apocalyptic, dystopian books and movies are all the rage, likely reflecting a general worry that has snuck into our collective brain. Zombie uprising? A megalomaniac who gets hands on a nuclear device? Sure, sure, all possible (really?) but the more likely scenario for an end to life on the planet as we know it is the decline in bees.
Four thousand different species of bees are native to North America and Hawaii. The Center for Biological Diversity has just released its new analysis (“Pollinators In Peril”) documenting that more than half are in decline, and nearly one-quarter are clearly well on the road to extinction. This is a very big deal.
However complicated to undo, the threat itself is really very simple to explain. Life on the planet depends upon plants. Plants depend upon pollination. Bees are an essential pollinator. Bees are dying off. No bees, no (or not enough) pollination, no plants. Make room for zombies.
Our native bees are rather unlike, for the most part, most people’s image of these insects. The hive dangling from a tree limb, surrounded by a dancing and humming horde, is more accurate for the European honeybee whose own decline is already well documented. Instead, the 4,337 bee species native to North America are for the most part ground-nesting and solitary. They play a pivotal, essential role as pollinators of almost 90 percent of native wild plants, as well as an estimated annual $3 billion (that’s billion with a b) worth of fruit crops.
Loss of habitat, climate change and heavy pesticide use are to blame.
The study documents that nearly one in every four species is at risk of extinction. It further points out that this is the best-case scenario; that scientific study and resulting data simply do not exist for many more species of native bees, and there’s no reason to expect that these animals are also not victim of the same crisis.
Ken White is the president of the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA.
Read more from Ken White in the San Mateo Daily Journal.