October 2018
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214 Reads
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2 Citations
Natural Areas Journal
Land managers face constant challenges when balancing multiple land use goals that include ensuring that keystone species are protected. As mindful stewards of our natural areas we aim to promote, secure, and enhance our natural landscapes and the species that make them their home. When we focus our efforts on protecting and promoting pollinators as well as the ecosystem services they provide we are met with an additional challenge. Limited resources and guidance are available, the data is patchy, and there is an enormous diversity of species. More than 30,000 bees (Michener 2000), 150,000 butterflies and moths (Grimaldi and Engel 2005), 150,000 flies (Thompson 2006), 12 bats (Medellin et al. 1997), 63 birds (Arizmendi and Ornelas 1990), and over 350,000 other arthropods, primarily beetles (Grimaldi and Engel 2005), visit flowers, transferring pollen and aiding in reproduction. This is compounded by the diversity of ecosystems globally and the sheer number of plant–pollinator interactions that can be expected. Pollinators are directly responsible for the reproduction of 67–96% of flowering plants globally (Ollerton et al. 2011); these flowering plants define our natural landscapes and ecosystems.