Assessing climate change impacts on pollinators

Publication date: 19/12/2022
Extent: 28 pages

Contributions by: Kit Prendergast, Curtin University, Australia

Chapter synopsis:

Anthropogenic climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing biodiversity presently and into the future. Climate change, through increasing temperatures, and extreme events including droughts and fires, can be predicted to impact pollinators through a number of mechanisms, including altered phenologies and distributions, which in turn may lead to altered plant-pollinator interactions. This chapter presents an overview of observed and predicted impacts of climate change on pollinators, as well as factors that may mediate species’ responses, including synergisms with other threatening processes, and identify topics for further research. Given the importance of pollinating organisms for biodiversity and ecosystem services, the chapter concludes by presenting a number of ways in which we can help pollinators face the challenge of climate change.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2022.0111.12