These and countless crops, from onions and carrots to sunflowers and cinnamon, rely on wild insects for reproduction. Pollinators are critical to much more than what fills our stomachs. The loss of a pollinator could cause the collapse of an ecosystem. In some tropical communities, for instance, figs support as much as 80 percent of vertebrates. In the western United States, rufous hummingbirds pollinate wildflowers that help recolonize deforested areas and prevent erosion, according to William Calder, ecologist at the University of Arizona-Tucson.
Bats are essential pollinators of trees that support many species in Samoa's rainforest canopy.
Low bush blueberries sustain populations of birds and black bears in the North American Arctic. In short, pollinators support life around the world. Unfortunately, pollinator populations are now declining worldwide. More than half of the managed honeybee colonies in the United States have been lost in the last 50 years, and 25 percent of this loss has occurred within the last five, according to Amos S. Eno, Executive Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This, of course, means trouble for the honey industry, but the pollination services provided by honeybees are worth 50 to 60 times more than the value of the honey and wax they produce.