<html>
<body>
<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/10/decline-bees-and-other-pollinators-could-worsen-global-malnutrition" eudora="autourl">
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/10/decline-bees-and-other-pollinators-could-worsen-global-malnutrition</a>
<br><br>
Decline of bees and other pollinators could worsen global malnutrition
<br><br>
By <br>
<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/author/jennifer-balmer">Jennifer
Balmer</a> <br>
8 October 2014 5:15 pm<br><br>
<br>
Although bees, butterflies, and other winged creatures serve as natural
pollinators for many of the world’s plants, they contribute only modestly
to the world’s agricultural productionaccounting for between 5% and 10%
of the production of food crops. However, such natural pollinators may
play a disproportionately large role in human nutrition and health,
according to a new study. That's because pollinators support crops that
deliver essential nutrients to malnourished regions of the world, the
data show, suggesting that regions already facing food shortages and
nutritional deficiencies may be especially hard hit by the global decline
of bees and other pollinators. <br><br>
Although pollination is essential for the cultivation of the world’s food
supply, not all crops depend on pollinating animals. Corn, for example,
is pollinated primarily by wind. However, many of the crops that do
depend on natural pollinators are the richest in the vitamins and
minerals essential for human health. Recent population declines of
important pollinators, such as domesticated and wild bees, have prompted
concerns for the potential effects on crop productionboth economically
and nutritionally. With this in mind, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, a landscape
ecologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues
set out to assess the importance of pollinators to global health by
determining where pollination is most critical for the production of
crops containing essential nutrients.<br><br>
To do that, the team of spatial scientists, pollination biologists, and
nutritionists compiled data on the nutrient content, pollination
dependence, and regional agricultural yields for more than 100 of the
most common crops grown globally for food. The team integrated
nutritional data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with data from
previous research reports on the global production and pollination
dependence of crops. Using the combined data set, the researchers then
created maps to identify hotspots that are most reliant on pollinators
for the production of three essential nutrientsvitamin A, iron, and
folate.<br><br>
Surprisingly, the researchers found that developed regions such as the
United States, Europe, China, and Japan rely on natural pollinators for
producing crops of high economic value, whereas parts of lesser developed
regions such as India, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa depend more on
natural pollinators for the production of crops that provide essential
nutrients,
<a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1794/20141799">
as they reported</a> last month in the <i>Proceedings of the Royal
Society B</i>.<br><br>
“Taking these three separate lines of researchwhere crops are grown, how
nutritious are they, and how dependent are they on pollinationyou
realize there are really different patterns in where nutrition production
is most dependent on pollination,” Chaplin-Kramer says.<br><br>
The results suggest that pollinator declines could affect various regions
of the world in very different ways. Ominously, the regions most
dependent on pollination for providing nutrients were also those with a
high prevalence of malnutrition and poverty. When the team added in data
from the World Health Organization on the global distribution of vitamin
A and iron deficiencies, they found that regions with a high prevalence
of nutritional deficiencies overlapped with the regions most dependent on
pollinators for delivering those same nutrients. Vitamin A and iron
deficiencies were three times more likely to occur in areas where
nutrient production was most dependent upon pollinators. Vitamin A
deficiency is associated with vision loss and increased mortality,
whereas iron deficiencies have been linked to pregnancy complications and
impaired development and risk of death in children.<br><br>
The reliance on natural pollinators is not causing the increased rates of
vitamin A and iron deficiency in these less-developed regions,
Chaplin-Kramer notes. "It just so happens that these places that are
already really nutritionally vulnerable are also the most reliant on
pollinators to deliver nutrients,” she says. Still, she adds, the
“pollinators matter more in these regions, therefore if there were
pollinator declines, it would hurt these regions more.”<br><br>
“Whereas previous studies have identified areas at risk of losing
production or income if problems with pollination arise, this study
highlights that problems could be more widespreadspecifically with
respect to health,” says Nynke Schulp, a spatial ecologist at VU
University Amsterdam, who was not involved in the study. <br><br>
The link between pollinators and global nutrition adds new importance to
the
<a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/sifter/2014/05/butterflies-and-wild-bees-are-disappearing">
continuing decline of pollinator populations occurring worldwide</a>.
However, the researchers note that there are a number of ways that
regions could adapt to changes in so-called pollination
servicesincluding using managed bee colonies to supplement wild
pollinators, switching to nutrient-equivalent crops that are less reliant
on pollination, or importing nutrient-rich foods from other regions.
“This is not a doomsday scenario, it’s a call to action”, Chaplin-Kramer
says. “By identifying where pollination is most critical for meeting
nutritional needs, we can prioritize where to direct future research and
conservation efforts.”<br>
</body>
</html>