Anthropocene Crisis: Climate Change, Pollinators, and Food Security

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new approach—understood as a whole-of-community approach—to address a dualistic and dysfunctional human/nature relationship. Of particular concern is the decline in health and numbers of the insects that pollinate an estimated 90 percent of the Earth’s flora and an estimated 35 percent of global crop volume. Specifically, bees provide the majority of biotic pollination and play a critical role in food crop pollination. Multiple factors are contributing to this growing problem including a changing climate. In 2016, the International Commission on Stratigraphy agreed that the concept of the Anthropocene—the human epoch—is of sufficient scale to be considered part of the geological time scale. This indicates that these crises are not random or passive—they are largely the direct result of human activities. Despite decades of awareness of these socio-ecological issues, they continue to worsen. In addition, the growing awareness of the critical role of pollinators is creating a new understanding of our interconnectedness with the “natural” world. We introduce the Bee City movement as a way to operationalize a whole-of-community approach. Individual action is critical, but addressing pollinator health in these forums legitimizes and provides an institutional space for otherwise fringe, or even marginalized, activities and more coherent spaces for habitat creation.

Amplicon Sequencing of Variable 16S rRNA from Bacteria and ITS2 Regions from Fungi and Plants, Reveals Honeybee Susceptibility to Diseases Results from Their Forage Availability under Anthropogenic Landscapes

“…Recent research shows insects to be dying out eight times faster than mammals, birds, or reptiles [ 26 , 31 , 32 ]. Most noteworthy factors behind the decline of insects are inappropriate application of pesticides, increased use of fertilizers and intense agronomic activities, highly intensive farming, insect malnutrition caused by farmland monocultures, parasites, long-term drought, long-term lack of sun, especially accompanied by low temperatures, as well as viral, bacterial, and fungal diseases [ 24 , 33 ].…”

Crop Pollination in Small-Scale Agriculture in Tanzania: Household Dependence, Awareness and Conservation

“…The conflict between increased food production and conservation of natural habitats that threatens sustainability of ecosystem services including insect pollination has received a lot of attention by scientists [19]. Díaz et al [20] and Barbir et al [21] show that small-scale farming by indigenous and local communities are resilient to global declines in pollination services because they have always used agricultural practices that maintain local pollinators on and around their agriculture lands (e.g., agroforestry systems).…”

Climate change, global population growth, and humanoid robots

“…Water shortages curtail the floral resources necessary for their survival (Phillips et al, 2018), and with a decline in the population of pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, beetles, and wasps, global warming will add significantly to VFI (Marshman et al, 2019). But it is not only pollinators at risk.…”