Kelsey Kopec, Center for Biological Diversity

Center for Biological Diversity

Published date February 26, 2017

Pollinators in Peril: A systematic status review of North American and Hawaiian native bees

  • States that crop pollination by bees provides 35% of the global food supply or one of every three bites of food
  • Conducts a systematic review of the status of all 4,337 North American and Hawaiian native bees
  • Finds that, among native bee species with sufficient data to assess (1,437), more than half (749) are declining
  • Finds that nearly 1 in 4 (347 native bee species) is imperiled and at increasing risk of extinction
  • Finds that a primary driver of these declines is agricultural intensification, which includes habitat destruction and pesticide use, and that climate change and urbanization are also major threats