Consciousness Shift
Creating a mental culture of health
This group will facilitate conversation and action aimed towards creating/restoring consciousnesses which are intricately tied to the natural world. This need is everpresent in societies which stress infinite growth on a finite planet.Change in behavior comes from change in our mentality, philosophy and worldview. If we seek to make positive change in our wo ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Feb 03, 2008
Updated: Nov 21, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
POLLINATION: An Essential Ecosystem Service
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Revealing secrets about the birds and the bees
• Many people think only of allergies when they hear the word pollen. But pollination — the transfer of pollen grains to fertilize the ovaries of flowers — is an essential part of a healthy ecosystem. While some plants are self-pollinated or wind-pollinated, most flowering plants require help from pollinators to produce fruit and seed.
• Pollinators come in all shapes and sizes. Over 100,000 invertebrate species — such as bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, and flies — serve as pollinators worldwide. At least 1,035 species of vertebrates, including birds, mammals, and reptiles, also pollinate many plant species.
• Pollinators play a significant role in the production of more than 150 food crops in the United States — from almonds, apples and alfalfa, to melons, plums, and squash. Almost all fruit and grain crops require pollination to produce their crop.
Valuation of Pollination Services
• In Alabama, a single southeastern blueberry bee pollinates approximately $75 worth of berries by visiting nearly 50,000 blueberry flowers in a year.
• The most important pollinator for agricultural purposes is the honeybee. One estimate of the annual benefit of managed honeybees to American consumers — when they supplement the services provided by native pollinators — is $1.6 billion. When native pollinators are not available to service crops, the estimated value of managed honeybees rises to $8.3 billion. The benefit of all other pollinators to US agriculture is estimated between $4.1 and $6.7 billion annually.
• Declines in pollinator activity could have serious economic repercussions throughout the United States. In 1994, for example, honeybee shortages caused by parasites and pesticides forced almond growers in California to import bees from distant states to ensure adequate pollination of their $800 million crop.
"Predicting the effects of the loss of a particular pollinator is extremely difficult, but it is important to remember that no species exists in isolation. Each is part of an ecological web, and as we lose more and more pieces of that web, the remaining structure must eventually collapse." — KEARNS AND INOUYE
For more information, click on this link
POLLINATION: An Essential Ecosystem Service
Our Future Depends on Pollination• Many people think only of allergies when they hear the word pollen. But pollination — the transfer of pollen grains to fertilize the ovaries of flowers — is an essential part of a healthy ecosystem. While some plants are self-pollinated or wind-pollinated, most flowering plants require help from pollinators to produce fruit and seed.
• Pollinators come in all shapes and sizes. Over 100,000 invertebrate species — such as bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, and flies — serve as pollinators worldwide. At least 1,035 species of vertebrates, including birds, mammals, and reptiles, also pollinate many plant species.
• Pollinators play a significant role in the production of more than 150 food crops in the United States — from almonds, apples and alfalfa, to melons, plums, and squash. Almost all fruit and grain crops require pollination to produce their crop.
Valuation of Pollination Services
• In Alabama, a single southeastern blueberry bee pollinates approximately $75 worth of berries by visiting nearly 50,000 blueberry flowers in a year.
• The most important pollinator for agricultural purposes is the honeybee. One estimate of the annual benefit of managed honeybees to American consumers — when they supplement the services provided by native pollinators — is $1.6 billion. When native pollinators are not available to service crops, the estimated value of managed honeybees rises to $8.3 billion. The benefit of all other pollinators to US agriculture is estimated between $4.1 and $6.7 billion annually.
• Declines in pollinator activity could have serious economic repercussions throughout the United States. In 1994, for example, honeybee shortages caused by parasites and pesticides forced almond growers in California to import bees from distant states to ensure adequate pollination of their $800 million crop.
"Predicting the effects of the loss of a particular pollinator is extremely difficult, but it is important to remember that no species exists in isolation. Each is part of an ecological web, and as we lose more and more pieces of that web, the remaining structure must eventually collapse." — KEARNS AND INOUYE
For more information, click on this link
