SCIENCE REPORTER, January 2010

45
Short Feature
SHIVANI JADEJA
M
OVING through a beautiful forest brings back
memories of my school days when my classmates
and I visited Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary, in
Gujarat, for a nature camp. Through various fun activities
Pranav Trivedi, a fine environmental educationalist, revealed
so much about the importance and uniqueness of each
creature in the forest ecosystem and their interactions and
contributions that helped maintain the forests.
The role of the tiny bees is especially of great importance
for the survival of trees and other plants. Without these bees,
our forests would not have existed the way they are now.
Many plants need bees to pollinate their flowers. A plant
makes beautiful and fragrant flowers to attract bees. The
flowers produce nectar, which is the reward for the bees that
visit the flowers. In the process of collecting nectar the bees
pollinate the flowers. Only after the flowers are pollinated
the plant can form seeds.
Bees and other pollinators not only provide services to
ecosystems but also to humans. They pollinate our crops.
Out of three fourths of the crops that are pollinated by
animals, most of them are pollinated by bees. In some parts
of the United States, imported European honey bees (Apis
mellifera) are managed for their pollination services. Mobile
honeybee colonies are used to pollinate flowers of
agricultural crops and orchards. The seemingly small
activity of pollination by the tiny bees is what provides
billions of people in the world food in the form of seeds
like cereals and pulses. In natural ecosystems the seeds and
fruits, which are a result of pollination, provide food to
many animals.
The plant-pollinator interaction is a cyclical process. In
this cycle, the plants get pollinated and form seeds. The seeds
are the future generation of the plants. In return for their
services, the pollinators get food in the form of nectar. More
the pollination in a system, more will be the number of seeds
to grow into new plants, which is essential for a healthy
ecosystem.
Plants produce more nectar for the pollinators to feed
on. This allows pollinators to flourish and continue
pollination. This cycle helps maintain the integrity of the
habitat. In the natural system these interactions are more
complex and highly inter-linked. On the one hand, a single
bee can pollinate flowers of many plant species. On the other
hand, a pollinator like the fig wasp can be highly specialised
and pollinate only one plant, the fig tree. Without the fig
wasps there would be no figs to eat. Figs are important for
the survival of many wild animals as they fruit during the
lean season when other food is less.
Studies have shown that bee populations are declining
globally. There have been very few studies and
Ecosystem
Services
observations that have looked at the population trend of
pollinators. This has made it difficult for researchers to
pin down the cause of the global decline in bees. Possible
causes for the global decline in bees include global climate
change, pesticide use, introduced bee diseases and modern
agricultural practice of monoculture. Some of these have
been supported with evidence while others are
speculations and debatable.
Studies have recorded that flowering times of certain
plant species change due to climate change. In such cases,
the flowering time does match with the life cycle of the bees,
thus, breaking the cyclical process of pollination. Also, the
pesticides meant to keep away pests affect bees leading to
their decline.
The economic value of the global free pollination
service by pollinators has been estimated to be 153 billion
Euro. As many crops worldwide depend on bees for
pollination, losing bees and other such pollinators from our
system, both natural and agricultural, would have
unimaginable consequences. If the pollinator is lost from our
system, the crops will bear flowers but they would not form
seeds in the absence of the pollinators. Low agricultural yield
would have drastic effects on countries where food is already
short. The trees in the forests that are dependent on
pollination by bees would suffer similar fates.
Disturbances due to human activities affect this vital
interaction of pollination much before they do so to other
processes and species. The strength of a habitat lies in its
interactions. Just as in movies, the heros famous dialogues
and actions are the hard work of others behind the scenes,
the habitat of the tiger is maintained by the tiny bees. The
fruits of their hard work are reaped by humans. Therefore,
it is of great importance to conserve the forests and other
habitats within which these interactions are maintained, as
they are integral to the survival of both natural habitats and
human society.
Ms Shivani Jadeja is a student at the Post-Graduate Programme in Wildlife
Biology and Conservation, National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK
Campus, Bangalore-560065; Email: shivanivj@ncbs.res.in
Photo by ADITYA JOSHI