Pollinator Economy
- tannerjanesky
- Sep 3
- 10 min read
How tiny creatures feed the world and support life on Earth
Last week, a friend asked me, "I heard recently that bees were introduced to the US about 400 years ago from Europe. How was all the pollinating being done before that?"
Here's my answer:
Every year, insects quietly add half a trillion dollars to the global economy. But they're declining, and it's a problem.
When you go have a nice breakfast of something like chocolate chip zucchini bread with almond butter, fruit salad with apples, blueberries, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, or a steaming cup of fresh coffee, you're the beneficiary of pollination. None of those things would exist without nature's pollinators. Ordinary and miraculous, pollination allows plants to reproduce and ties human survival to the lives of countless little creatures that perform the task. It sustains ecosystems, economies, and your daily human life.
Put simply, pollination is the transfer of pollen from one part of a flower to another, specifically, from an anther to the stigma. Pollen grains carry the male genetic material of a plant. When they land on the female structure of a flower, the stigma, fertilization can take place. A pollen grain germinates, grows a tube into the ovule, and delivers sperm to the egg. The fertilized egg becomes an embryo, the ovule becomes a seed, and often the surrounding tissues swell into fruit that protects the seeds. Without this step, most flowering plants would not reproduce, and the living world would look very different.
Pollination allows plants to set seed, but its importance extends far beyond a botanical curiosity. Plants are the foundation of life, the primary producers at the bottom of the trophic pyramid that turn sunlight into carbohydrates that the rest of life on Earth uses. Plants provide food, oxygen, shelter, and habitat for myriads of organisms.
Of the 390,000 known plant species, about 300,000 are flowering plants, or angiosperms. The non-flowering plants include gymnosperms (conifers, cycads, gingko, etc), ferns, and bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, hornworts), and reproduce through spores or "naked seeds."
Flowering plants can be divided into two broad categories: those that require pollination to reproduce and those that do not. Among the plants that depend on pollination, several strategies exist. Allogamous plants reproduce primarily through cross-pollination, and these make up 60-70% of flowering plants. “Allogamy” simply means that pollen must come from a different individual for fertilization to occur. Some allogamous plants may still be able to self-pollinate occasionally, but their biology favors and relies mostly on outcrossing. This group is broad and includes many species that thrive best with cross-pollination, such as sunflowers and squash, but aren’t necessarily prevented from self-pollinating in every case.
Obligate outcrossers are a subset of allogamous plants. These species are strictly self-incompatible and cannot use their own pollen under any circumstances. They have genetic or structural mechanisms that prevent self-pollination, such as chemical self-incompatibility systems or flower structures that make self-pollination impossible. Apples, almonds, pears, and broccoli are a few examples: they absolutely require pollen from another variety or individual to produce seeds and fruit. Note, there are many different cultivars of these species, and some vary in their pollination requirements.
Autogamous plants, on the other hand, represent 10-15% of flowering plants and are capable of fertilizing themselves with their own pollen, as in peas, tomatoes, and wheat. Some plants are facultatively autogamous, meaning they can reproduce through either self-pollination or cross-pollination. Peppers and apricots fall into this group, and while they can self-fertilize, they produce stronger offspring and better fruits with cross-pollination.
Not all plants rely on pollination. Some bypass it entirely through asexual reproduction. In vegetative reproduction, new plants grow from specialized structures such as runners, tubers, bulbs, or rhizomes. 5-10% of flowering plants reproduce this way, such as strawberries, potatoes, and onions. Apomictic plants (1% of flowering plants) form seeds without fertilization, effectively cloning themselves, as seen in dandelions and hawkweed. Other plants are parthenocarpic, producing fruits without any fertilization at all—bananas and seedless grapes—but these require humans to propagate them and would not exist in the wild.
There are also a few other terms worth noting. Some plants are self-compatible or self-fertile, able to use their own pollen, while others are self-incompatible. Certain flowers, called cleistogamous, never open and always self-pollinate, while geitonogamy describes pollen transfer between flowers on the same plant—technically cross-pollination, but genetically similar to selfing.
Now that we've covered pollen compatibility, we need to look at how that pollen actually gets from one part of a flower to another. Some plants rely on wind or water to carry their pollen. Grasses like wheat and corn, or trees like oaks and pines, release clouds of pollen into the air in hopes that a few grains find their way to receptive flowers. A few aquatic plants let pollen drift along currents.
But the more captivating pollinators are animals. Pollination by insects is called entomophily. Bees are the undisputed champions, and not just the familiar honeybee. Bumblebees, mason bees, leafcutter bees, and thousands of solitary species move among flowers in every ecosystem on Earth. There are 20,000 species of bees in the world, and 3,600 are native to the United States. Their bodies are designed for the work. Fuzzy hairs trap pollen, and their visits to multiple blooms carry pollen grains between different flowers. Butterflies and moths play their part, drawn to colors and scents. Flies pollinate cacao, onions, and carrots. Beetles, the oldest pollinators in evolutionary history, lumber through magnolia blossoms.
Birds contribute as well. Hummingbirds in the Americas, sunbirds in Africa and Asia, and honeyeaters in Australia probe flowers for nectar and dust themselves with pollen. In the tropics and deserts, bats emerge at night to drink from giant flowers, carrying the dust on their wings and snouts. Even lizards and small mammals can pollinate. Basically, anything that's attracted to flowers will inevitably get pollen grains stuck to it and end up bringing some of that pollen to other flowers. Pollination is a partnership across the living world.
About 87% of all flowering plants depend on pollinators of some kind, and without them, those plants would disappear from the world. Roughly one-third of global crop production depends on pollinators. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, and chocolate all owe their existence to the movement of pollen and the creatures that carry it. A tiny fly called a midge crawls into the flower of the cacao plant, making the $100 billion chocolate industry possible. Our nutrition and the livelihoods of millions of farmers depend on this transfer. Even crops that feed livestock, like alfalfa and clover, rely on bees to produce seed. According to the National Science Foundation, $34 billion in food production depends on pollinators. That figure is between $235 billion and $577 billion worldwide. Pollination is not a fringe marginal benefit to agriculture but a central pillar. In ecological terms, pollinators underpin much of the natural environment.
Orchards of apples, cherries, and pears burst into bloom each spring, depending on bees to visit every flower. Fields of squash, cucumbers, and melons wait for buzzing insects to shake their pollen loose. Coffee plants in the highlands of Ethiopia and cacao trees in Central America depend on insect visitors. Blueberry patches, sunflower fields, and almond groves would fail without pollination. Even wildflowers—lupine on mountain slopes, coneflowers in prairies, columbines in shaded forests—would fade away without their insect partners.
How have plants manipulated these mobile creatures to do their pollination work? In return for pollination, the bees, butterflies, flies, birds, and other organisms get food in the form of pollen and nectar from the flowers of these plants. It's an example of coevolution. The pollinators rely on the plants for food, and the plants rely on the pollinators to reproduce. If either party is harmed or disappears, both will suffer.
The role of honeybees in agriculture reveals both the importance of pollinators and the fragility of our current system. In the United States, a system of pollination contracts has developed in which farmers rent hives from beekeepers. Each spring, truckloads of hives are transported across the country, following the bloom of different crops. California’s almond orchards alone require 2 million, more than two-thirds of the nation’s managed hives. Later in the year, those same bees may be moved to apple orchards in Washington, blueberry fields in Maine, or alfalfa seed fields in the Midwest. This migratory workforce is essential for modern agriculture, but it places extraordinary stress on bees. Constant transport, exposure to pesticides, limited forage diversity, and close contact with other colonies make them vulnerable to disease. Beekeepers respond with treatments, supplemental feeding, and splitting colonies, but the costs are high. Colony losses of a third or more each year are common. Reliance on one species—Apis mellifera, the European honeybee—also leaves agriculture vulnerable. Encouraging wild pollinators, or diversifying managed species to include bumblebees and mason bees, could help relieve the burden.
What would happen if pollinators disappeared? Human beings would not starve overnight. Grains and staples would remain, because they depend mostly on wind. But we would lose many of the foods that make our diets diverse, healthy, and delicious. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and many oils would either become scarce and expensive or disappear entirely. Some of the casualties would include: apples, pears, almonds, sweet cherries, apricots, plums, kiwi, brazil nuts, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, passion fruit, macadamia nuts, pumpkins, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, mustards, carrots, onions, beets, dogwoods, milkweeds, orchids, and hawthorns.
Meals would lose variety, flavor, and vitamins. Economies that depend on pollinator-reliant crops would suffer, and farmers would see their livelihoods collapse. Beyond agriculture, ecosystems would unravel. Wildflowers that require pollinators would decline, taking with them the food and shelter they provide for birds, mammals, and insects. A cascade of losses would spread through food webs, and biodiversity would fall. The world would become less resilient, less colorful, and less stable.
Sadly, pollinators are already in decline. Managed honeybee colonies in North America and Europe experience annual losses of 40 percent. Wild pollinators also face severe pressures. Bumblebee populations have shrunk across continents, and butterflies like the monarch have declined sharply. It's hard to get exact numbers due to the difficulty of studying such large populations, but the studies that have been done indicate that between 10% and 40% of insect species are at risk of extinction.
The many causes are interrelated. Habitat loss is perhaps the most obvious. As diverse meadows and hedgerows are plowed under for uniform fields, pollinators lose forage and nesting space. Pesticides, especially neonicotinoids, interfere with navigation and immunity, weakening bees even at low doses. Parasites and diseases, such as the Varroa mite in honeybees, spread rapidly in stressed colonies. Climate change disrupts flowering times and migration patterns, leaving pollinators out of sync with their food. Nighttime light pollution, the artificial brightening of the night sky by streetlights, billboards, buildings, and vehicles, disrupts insects' orientation and reproduction. Agricultural intensification compounds the problem. Vast monocultures bloom all at once, providing a feast for a few weeks but leaving pollinators hungry for the rest of the year. There's a barrage of human-caused stressors that few species can withstand indefinitely.
There are solutions. Farmers can help by planting wildflower strips, cover crops, and hedgerows that bloom at different times of the year. These patches of diversity provide nectar and pollen when crops are not in bloom. Reducing pesticide use, especially during flowering, can prevent unnecessary harm. Integrated pest management and organic farming practices offer alternatives that balance crop protection with pollinator health. Cities and towns can contribute as well. Urban gardens, parks, and even balcony planters stocked with native flowers provide valuable habitat.
Replacing lawns with wildflower meadows can give bees places to forage, look beautiful, and reduce maintenance costs. Native flowers provide the best forage for native pollinators, since they've coevolved over thousands of years. Policy changes matter too. Regulations that restrict harmful pesticides, conservation programs that protect natural habitat, and funding for pollinator research all create systemic support.
We live at a time when the possibility of losing many pollinators is real. Pollinators are declining, and with them, a foundation of life. Farmers, gardeners, citizens, and governments can all take steps to reverse the trend. Folks like you and me.
We can plant flowers, especially native ones. We can opt not to use pesticides in our yards, and we can encourage others to do the same. While it will be a major battle to get the big agricultural companies to reduce their pesticide use, we can at least vote against them by buying organic foods, which are grown without those synthetic toxins.
We can create habitats for wild bees, with flowers, nest boxes, and water sources.
Protecting pollinators requires recognition that human flourishing is inseparable from ecological health. Hard as we may try, we are inseparable from nature.
It's more than just your morning coffee at stake.
It's a foundation of this beautiful web of interactions we call life on Earth.
We are eroding that foundation. But we can stop. If we choose.
What do you choose?
"We have never known what we were doing because we have never known what we were undoing. We cannot know what we are doing until we know what nature would be doing if we were doing nothing."
– Wendell Berry, 1987
Resources:
Allen-Wardell, G., Bernhardt, P., Bitner, R., Burquez, A., Buchmann, S., Cane, J., … Ingram, M. (1998). The potential consequences of pollinator declines on the conservation of biodiversity and stability of food crop yields. Conservation Biology, 12(1), 8–17.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2018). Pollinators vital to our food supply under threat. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org
Gallai, N., Salles, J. M., Settele, J., & Vaissière, B. E. (2009). Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline. Ecological Economics, 68(3), 810–821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.06.014
Goulson, D. (2010). Bumblebees: Behaviour, ecology, and conservation (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Klein, A. M., Vaissière, B. E., Cane, J. H., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Cunningham, S. A., Kremen, C., & Tscharntke, T. (2007). Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274(1608), 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3721
National Research Council. (2007). Status of pollinators in North America. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11761
Ollerton, J., Winfree, R., & Tarrant, S. (2011). How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals? Oikos, 120(3), 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18644.x
Potts, S. G., Biesmeijer, J. C., Kremen, C., Neumann, P., Schweiger, O., & Kunin, W. E. (2010). Global pollinator declines: Trends, impacts and drivers. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25(6), 345–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2010.01.007
Seeley, T. D. (2019). The lives of bees: The untold story of the honey bee in the wild. Princeton University Press.
U.S. National Science Foundation. (2021, February 18). Economic value of insect pollination services in U.S. much higher than thought, study finds. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/news/economic-value-insect-pollination-services-us-much
Van Engelsdorp, D., & Meixner, M. D. (2010). A historical review of managed honey bee populations in Europe and the United States and the factors that may affect them. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 103(Suppl. 1), S80–S95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2009.06.011
Winfree, R., Williams, N. M., Gaines, H., Ascher, J. S., & Kremen, C. (2008). Wild bee pollinators provide the majority of crop visitation across land-use gradients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, USA. Journal of Applied Ecology, 45(3), 793–802. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01418.x
Comments