Plant-pollinator interactions in the context of climate change-an endangered mutualism

The distributions of most pollinator species are poorly documented despite their importance in providing ecosystem services. While these and other organisms are threatened by many aspects of the human enterprise, anthropogenic climate change is potentially the most severe threat to pollinator biodiversity. Mounting evidence demonstrates that there have already been biotic responses to the relatively small climate changes that have occurred this century. Pollinators such as birds, bees, butterflies, moths, flies, wasps, beetles bats and even mosquitoes are essential for food production because they transfer pollen between seed plants-impacting 35% of the world's crops. Along with providing an essential service to human populations, pollinators also have a key role in maintaining other ecosystem services including ensuring biodiversity and helping nature to adjust to external threats such as climate change. The “pollination crisis” that is evident in declines of honeybees and native bees worldwide is due to disruption of critical balance between the two mutually interacting organisms. Anthropogenic climate change is widely expected to drive species extinct by hampering individual survival and reproduction, by reducing the amount and accessibility of suitable habitat, or by eliminating other organisms that are essential to the species in question. The potential disruption of a ubiquitous mutualistie interaction of terrestrial habitats, that between plants and their animal pollinators, via climate change is at risk.