Pollination

Many flowering plants rely on animals such as bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, and bats for pollination to produce fruit. Thirty percent of our food crops, including almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, and chocolate, rely on the free services of pollinators. Feed crops like alfalfa and hay for domesticated animals also depend on pollinators, and many wild plants such as fig trees that provide food and shelter for animals depend on pollina tors. But pollinators, including the managed honeybee colonies used extensively in U.S. agriculture are threatened. Increasingly fragmented and degraded habitat, pesticides, and the introduction of diseases and non -native species are causing some pollinator populations to decline. Imagine farmers having to hand-pollinate their crops if we lose natural pollinators.