The decline on the brink of the danger of extinction of bees has alarmed a large part of the scientific, agricultural and political union. Studies, campaigns and social movements are the main actions carried out by these characters to promote people’s awarenessto reduce the use and impact of toxic chemical fertilizers that affect ecosystems, to generate actions that protect the environment and promote the growth of these pollinatorsamong other actions.
In order to save bees from extinction, and with it protect the planet from an aggressive adaptation process –but also the extinction of other plant and animal species–, re-education has begun to be used as a method of approaching people. In other words, provide true and accurate information so that people understand not only the importance of these pollinators on the planet, but also the impact of their absence on biodiversity and our lifestyles.
For this reason, and according to a study carried out in 2016 by Cusser S, Neff JL and Jha S, entitled Natural land cover drives pollinator abundance and richness, leading to reductions in pollen limitation in cotton agroecosystemit is important to consider that Bees mainly pollinate kiwi, potato, onion, cashew, strawberry, Brazil nut, beetroot, mustard, broccoli, cardamom, sunflower, lychee, mango, cauliflower, cabbage, rapeseed, cotton plants, among others. In fact, the researchers managed to document how the presence of bees increased both the production and the extension of food-growing fields –especially cotton–.
In other words, the larger the extension of natural areas, the greater the presence of these pollinators in the area; and therefore, greater fertility will have the plants to produce more cotton. Throughout 12 study sites, of which three were cotton fields in southern Texas, USA, it was possible to cover and catalog the pollinator species as well as calculate the level of abundance in each of the fields. . So by performing the necessary analyses, the presence of natural areas was found to be a strong predictor of both abundance and richness of pollinators in cotton fields. And not only that, after finding this data, the researchers measured each cotton field to determine the effects of the presence of bees: they placed organza bags on some plants to block the access of pollinators; while with other plants, they used plants that emphasized their access. Six weeks later, they weighed the cotton and seeds from the 50 plants at each site. They found that the plants received a greater amount of pollination and cotton production than in fields of other plants.especially in the fields with the largest amount of natural areas in the surroundings.
The presence of bees in cotton fields then increases production by 18 percent, which can translate into $108 profit per hectare. This could support biodiversity and conserve natural areasimplying about 1 million dollars more for the benefit of the families that live and work the agricultural fields.
In this way, the results are suggesting that small areas of natural habitat around farms or agricultural fields, could establish and maintain the diversity of pollinator communities. Enough with:
– plant wild flowers between crop fields to provide food for bees,
– place small fields so that nature can be restored, allowing to preserve the original habitat of pollinating species when visiting the cotton flowers,
– if you are not a farmer or agriculturist, plant flowers of different varieties in gardens and open spaces so that they bloom at different times of the year.
With these small steps, people can promote big benefits for both nature and their lifestyle. The idea is that through the awareness of the population, important changes can be generated so that biodiversity is maintained, providing a better planet for future generations.
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