| Contents Notes |
"In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's leading authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan, award-winning writer and renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital but little-appreciated relationship between plants and the animals they depend on for reproduction - bees, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals, some widely recognized and others almost unknown." "Scenes from around the globe - examining island flora and fauna on the Galapagos, counting bees in the Panamanian rain forest, witnessing an ancient honey-hunting ritual in Malaysia - bring to life the hidden relationships between plants animals and demonstrates the ways in which human society affects and is affected by those relationships. Buchmann and Nabhan combine vignettes from the field with expository discussions of ecology, botany, and crop science to present a lively and fascinating account of the ecological and cultural context of plant-pollinator relationships." "More than any other natural process, plant-pollinator relationships offer vivid examples of the connections between endangered species and threatened habitats. The authors explain how human-induced changes in pollinator populations - caused by overuse of chemical pesticides, unbridled development, and conversion of natural areas into monocultural cropland - can have a ripple effect on disparate species, ultimately leading to a "cascade of linked extinctions.""--Jacket. Foreword / Edward O. Wilson -- Introduction: Remembering the Pollinators -- 1. Silent Springs and Fruitless Falls: The Impending Pollination Crisis -- 2. Flowers: Waiting for Their Ships to Come In -- 3. Pollinators: Waiting for the Bait to Pervade the Air -- 4. The Perils of Matchmaking: Pollination of Syndromes and Plant/Pollinator Landscapes -- 5. Bees in the Bestiary, Bats in the Belfry: A Menagerie of Pollinators -- 6. Fractured Fairy Tales: Disruptions in Fragmented Habitats -- 7. Need Nectar, Will Travel: Threats to Migratory Pollinators -- 8. Holding the Globe in Our Hands: The Relentless Pressures on Plants Pollinators -- 9. Keepers of the Flame: Honey Hunters and Beekeepers from Ancient to Present Times -- 10. New Bee on the Block: Competition Between Honeybees and Native Pollinators -- 11. The Little Lives Keeping Crops Fruitful: The Economics of Pollination -- 12. Cultivating Lasting Relationships: Pollinator Gardens and Ecological Restoration -- App. 1. A Call for a National Policy on Pollination -- App. 2. Pollinators of the Major Crop Plants -- App. 3. Conservation and Research Organizations -- App. 4. Sources -- App. 5. Pollination Classes for the World's Wild Flowering Plants -- App. 6. Common Agricultural Pesticides. |
