[Pollinator] Decline of Pollinating Insects in Great Britain - The UK DEFRA has released a scientific study which "... reveals that between 1990 and 2007 the number of wild plant species that provide nectar for bees has decreased ...

[Tom Van Arsdall]

Excerpted from Food Industry Environmental News Service.  RTVA

                

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Decline of Pollinating Insects in Great Britain - The UK Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has released a scientific study
which "... reveals that between 1990 and 2007 the number of wild plant
species that provide nectar for bees has decreased, in small patches of semi
natural habitat...[which caused a]...reduction in the areas supporting wild
nectar providing plants that pollinators rely on..." - The report concludes
that "... the decline [in pollinators] is mainly due to nectar providing
plants being crowded out by the growth of more competitive plant species..."


Document Title: The title of the October 27, 2010 UK DEFRA News Release is
"New scientific study helps to reveal possible reasons for the decline of
pollinators" 

The title of the report is "An Integrated Assessment of Countryside Survey
Data to Investigate Ecosystem Services in Great Britain"

Organization: UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) 

Source: October 27, 2010 UK DEFRA News Release 

Web site: The October 27, 2010 UK DEFRA News Release is posted at 
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=416199
<http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=416199&NewsAreaID=2>
&NewsAreaID=2 

The report is available for download at 
http://www.countrysidesurvey.org.uk/ 
Specifically at 
http://www.countrysidesurvey.org.uk/pdf/reports2007/CS_UK_2007_TR10.pdf 

Contact: The lead author of the Integrated Assessment is Dr. Simon Smart who
is with the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Wallingford, UK at +44 (0)1491
838800; e-mail: ssma at ceh.ac.uk 

Summary: The text of the October 27, 2010 UK DEFRA News Release follows 

New scientific study helps to reveal possible reasons for the decline of
pollinators 

Findings from a new scientific study, released today by the Countryside
Survey Partnership, show that the total effect of changes to small patches
of land over a number of years could be one of the factors in the decline of
pollinating insects such as bees. 

The Countryside Survey Integrated Assessment report examines the status and
trends of ecological processes that have value for individuals or society
within Great Britain. Headline messages from the report concern different
ecosystem services, including pollination, soils, and the quality of
freshwaters and their relationship with biodiversity. 

The analysis reveals that between 1990 and 2007 the number of wild plant
species that provide nectar for bees has decreased, in small patches of semi
natural habitat. These small but highly significant changes combine to make
a total reduction in the areas supporting wild nectar providing plants that
pollinators rely on. 

Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, said: 

“Pollinating insects are vital to our existence, helping to provide the food
on our tables. It is important that we investigate the causes of the decline
and take action to address it. The UK has some of the best environmental
scientists in the world and using their skills we are gathering more
information on changes to our land and the effects this has on species and
habitats. This survey will help us analyse what effects policy decisions
have and where and how we need to take action.” 

Lead author of the Integrated Assessment, Dr Simon Smart from the Centre for
Ecology & Hydrology, said: 

“Quantifying ecosystem services and understanding the interactions between
them provides a significant challenge for scientists, one which we’re only
just developing techniques to investigate. This new analysis, possible
because of a unique national dataset, delivers, for the first time, evidence
that key global change phenomena such as air pollution and land use change
have affected delivery of ecosystems services across the British countryside
over the last two decades. As well as measuring different services, such as
pollination, we’ve also determined possible causes of changes in services
over time, and even modelled what might happen under a number of ‘what if’
scenarios.” 

The report concludes that the decline is mainly due to nectar providing
plants being crowded out by the growth of more competitive plant species.
This overgrowth may be related to reduced management and air pollution where
the deposition of nitrogenous compounds from the air acts like a fertilizer.
In one habitat type - streamside margins - this reduced management has had
benefits for freshwater quality, indicating the importance of not
considering single ecosystem benefits in isolation. 

The in-depth study of the habitats, soils and landscape features was carried
out by scientists using specially developed electronic recording tools and
web-enabled data systems to improve the efficiency of data collection. Many
of the same sites have been monitored for each survey since 1978, but
additional sites have been added in each survey to improve estimates of
change in specific geographical areas. 

Notes to Editors 

1. The Countryside Survey can be found at:
http://www.countrysidesurvey.org.uk/ 

2. The Countryside Survey is funded by a partnership of government-funded
bodies led by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Other partners
include: Natural England, Welsh Assembly Government, Scottish Government,
Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the Forestry Commission, Countryside
Council for Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage. Countryside Survey is
conducted by NERC's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. 

3. A team of 80 specially trained scientists from the Centre for Ecology &
Hydrology carried out the survey of 591 randomly selected one-kilometre
square sites, containing around 15,000 vegetation sampling plots, in
England, Scotland and Wales during the summer of 2007. A complementary
survey was carried out in Northern Ireland at the same time. Surveys were
undertaken in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1998 and 2007. 

4. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is the UK's Centre of Excellence
for integrated research in the land and freshwater ecosystems and their
interaction with the atmosphere. Media Relations Manager Dr Barnaby Smith
can be contacted on +44(0)7920 295384 or bpgs at ceh.ac.uk 

5. NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing world-class
research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences.
NERC receives around £400m a year from the government's science budget,
which it uses to fund independent research and training in universities and
its own research centres. 

Go to the DEFRA Press Release and Web sites listed in this email for
additional information and details. 

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