Promoting Pollination and Pollinators in Farming

It has been reported that up to 95% of all flowering plants require the services of other organisms to move pollen from male to female flower parts during the pollination process. These organisms, including bees, are collectively known as pollinators. However, in light of the growing evidence of global declines in pollinator species, the management, ecology and conservation of wild and managed pollinators is a subject of growing importance and research activity.

Promoting pollination and pollinators in farming reviews the wealth of research on our current understanding of existing pollination processes and their importance to our global ecosystems. The book considers how pollinators interact with plants, as well as the major threats to pollinator species, including climate change, diseases and pesticide exposure.

Through its comprehensive exploration of the current status of pollinators in farming, the book provides its readers with the knowledge required to promote pollination by protecting the world’s pollinators species and the ecosystem services they deliver using techniques such as habitat conservation.

• Reviews recent advances in understanding pollination dynamics and the role of plant-pollinator relationships in agro-ecosystems
• Provides a comprehensive assessment of the major threats to economically important pollinators, including the impact of climate change and pest and disease threat
• Explores best practices for the protection of key pollinators and the ecosystem services they deliver

“Pollinators, and the pollination services that they provide, are a vital component of sustainable global agriculture. The editors have assembled a wonderful set of researchers to present the latest findings about the importance of pollinators, why many populations are declining, and what can be done about it. This volume promises to be a widely read, state-of-the-art account of an essential topic that will be a useful resource for years to come."(Professor Jeff Ollerton, author of ‘Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society’ and Visiting Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Northampton, UK)

It has been reported that up to 95% of all flowering plants require the services of other organisms to move pollen from male to female flower parts during the pollination process. These organisms, including bees, are collectively known as pollinators. However, in light of the growing evidence of global declines in pollinator species, the management, ecology and conservation of wild and managed pollinators is a subject of growing importance and research activity.

Promoting pollination and pollinators in farming reviews the wealth of research on our current understanding of existing pollination processes and their importance to our global ecosystems. The book considers how pollinators interact with plants, as well as the major threats to pollinator species, including climate change, diseases and pesticide exposure.

The book provides its readers with the knowledge required to promote pollination by protecting the world’s pollinators species and the ecosystem services they deliver using techniques such as habitat conservation.

Edited by two world-renowned experts in the field, this book will be a standard reference for university and other researchers in the environmental and biological sciences, conservationists, entomologists, farmers, as well as government and private sector agencies supporting sustainable crop production.

Dr Peter Kevan is Emeritus Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, Canada. Professor Kevan is internationally renowned for his research on the biology and conservation of bees and other pollinators, with over 300 publications on these topics. Amongst other honours, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Entomological Society and the Royal Society of Biology.

Dr D. Susan Willis Chan works in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph where she conducts research in entomology, ecology and biology, as well as working with Canadian farmers on conserving pollinators. Susan is a species expert on the ground-nesting hoary squash bee and has a strong interest in all aspects of agroecology.