¿Qué son los polinizadores? - Gobierno de México
En este sentido es tan importante su presencia como polinizadores que se propone a los escarabajos como los impulsores del éxito evolutivo de ...
., 2016
Como se ha mencionado los polinizadores son de gran relevancia para la supervivencia de los ecosistemas, proveyendo servicios de regulación ya que afecta directamente a la productividad de las cosechas, incrementando la calidad del fruto y la producción de la semilla. Otros servicios ecosistémicos que proporcionan son de soporte, ya que se encuentran relacionados con procesos evolutivos que definen diferencias entre especies y variedades, asimismo tienen un alto valor estético y cultural para los humanos ( Gill et al <anchor>., 2016</anchor>).
Protecting an Ecosystem Service: Approaches to Understanding and Mitigating Threats to Wild Insect Pollinators - ScienceDirect
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## Advances in Ecological Research

# Chapter Four - Protecting an Ecosystem Service: Approaches to Understanding and Mitigating Threats to Wild Insect Pollinators

Author links open overlay panelRichard J.Gill*, Katherine C.R.Baldock†, Mark J.F.Brown‡, James E.Cresswell§, Lynn V.Dicks¶, Michelle T.Fountain‖, Michael P.D.Garratt#, Leonie A.Gough*, Matt S.Heard**, John M.Holland††, JeffOllerton‡‡, Graham N.Stone§§, Cuong Q.Tang¶¶, Adam J.Vanbergen‖‖, Alfried P.Vogler*¶¶, GuyWoodward*, Andres N.Arce*, Nigel D.Boatman##, RichardBrand-Hardy\\\*, Tom D.Breeze#…Simon G.Potts#

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## Abstract

Insect pollination constitutes an ecosystem service of global importance, providing significant economic and aesthetic benefits as well as cultural value to human society, alongside vital ecological processes in terrestrial ecosystems. It is therefore important to understand how insect pollinator populations and communities respond to rapidly changing environments if we are to maintain healthy and effective pollinator services. This chapter considers the importance of conserving pollinator diversity to maintain a suite of functional traits and provide a diverse set of pollinator services. We explore how we can better understand and mitigate the factors that threaten insect pollinator richness, placing our discussion within the context of populations in predominantly agricultural landscapes in addition to urban environments. We highlight a selection of important evidence gaps, with a number of complementary research steps that can be taken to better understand: (i) the stability of pollinator communities in different landscapes in order to provide diverse pollinator services; (ii) how we can study the drivers of population change to mitigate the effects and support stable sources of pollinator services and (iii) how we can manage habitats in complex landscapes to support insect pollinators and provide sustainable pollinator services for the future. We advocate a collaborative effort to gain higher quality abundance data to understand the stability of pollinator populations and predict future trends. In addition, for effective mitigation strategies to be adopted, researchers need to conduct rigorous field testing of outcomes under different landscape settings, acknowledge the needs of end-users when developing research proposals and consider effective methods of knowledge transfer to ensure effective uptake of actions.

## Section snippets

## Providing an Ecosystem Service

Insects show an astonishing taxonomic diversity and are abundant in almost all environments across the globe (ca. 1 million described species, with an estimated >4 million undescribed; Stork et al., 2015). Their importance for the functioning of ecosystems cannot be overstated, contributing to fundamental ecosystem processes including soil turnover, decomposition and nutrient cycling, and play key roles in local food webs (Schwartz et al., 2000). These processes have direct implications for

## Major Threats to the Pollination Service Provided by Insects

Multiple factors likely act in combination to impose an overall level of stress on insect pollinator populations (Bryden et al., 2013, Goulson et al., 2015, Perry et al., 2015, Vanbergen et al., 2013). Implicated factors include climate change, habitat fragmentation, land-use change and associated chemical inputs to the environment (i.e. agrochemicals), invasive species and the added pressures of predation and competition (Godfray et al., 2014, Gonzalez-Varo et al., 2013, Goulson et al., 2015,

## Steps in the Right Direction to Protect Insect Pollinator Services: Policy Actions

Mitigating threats to insect pollinator services has become an important issue for policy and the public. A range of conservation initiatives have been developed to improve understanding of the risks posed, and how to deliver a sustainable pollination service at global, regional and national scales (Appendix Table A1). Advancing ecological research into insect pollinators requires an understanding of where current policy stands and how research approaches can answer or inform stated objectives.

## Understanding and Mitigating Specific Threats to Wild Insect Pollinators to Protect Pollinator Services

Understanding the responses of insect pollinators to environmental stressors is important in understanding how we can manage a sustained pollinator service for the future, making it a major priority for both research and policy (Vanbergen et al., 2014a). Given the complexity of these biological systems, we must avoid approaching pollinator management in a naïve or overly simplistic manner otherwise our chances of meeting targets for pollinator services may be compromised. For example,

## Considerations When Developing Future Research and Mitigation Strategies

A major goal in supporting insect pollinators is to get the right balance between land-use for anthropogenic activities, such as food production or urbanisation, versus the responsibility we have in conserving healthy and diverse insect pollinator populations and communities. To ensure we achieve this goal, a key approach to land management strategies is to enact evidence-based decision making rather than adopting uniform responses to political agendas. Policy initiatives designed to support

## Acknowledgements

A special thanks to Mark Baylis, Sandra Bell, Domonique Butt, Debbie Harding, Alan Hart, Ashley Matthews, Belinda Phillipson, Ana Ramos-Rodrigues, Dylan Smith, Mark Stevenson and Jason Tylianakis for providing valuable ideas. This chapter is a primary output of a March 2015 workshop that discussed the current evidence gaps and future action plans to help support the objectives of the National Pollinator Strategy (England). The workshop was organised by R.J.G. and S.G.P. and funded by an NERC

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