Pollinators

You are almost certainly familiar with the expression “as busy as a bee”, but not everybody appreciates just how busy bees and other pollinators are. Modern life is increasingly disconnected from nature and many people barely even notice bees going about their vital work, flying tirelessly from flower to flower. So, today, to mark World Bee Day, let’s look more closely at how pollinating insects behave.

Two CREAF researchers have taken part in the study, which shows that small, irregularly shaped fields on farmland boost the number and abundance of species. This is because pollinators use crop borders as highways or corridors for movement and protection. The trend of ever larger crop fields is endangering insect pollinator populations and their ability to pollinate crops

Nature establishes relationships between species and organisms, forming a very complex network where often great-interconnected nodes appear. They are called 'hubs'. But humans also create this kind of networks, such as airports as nodes and flights as connections.

To Nacho and Marc.

Experts at CREAF say that bee populations are on the decline and that pesticides such as neonicotinoids are one of the main causes. It is important to promote organic, sustainable agriculture and move forward on the prohibition of these compounds. 

We offer a Ph.D. position within teh project "Spatial heterogeneity in plant-pollinator communities: effects on interaction and consequences to pollination function". (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, project CGL2013-41856-P).