Climate, not location, shapes plant pollination, global study finds

A global study involving more than 142 researchers from 32 countries has found that climate, particularly temperature and rainfall, plays a greater role than location in shaping relationships between flowering plants and the animals that pollinate them.

The findings challenge the long-held belief that plants and their pollinators have more specialised relationships in tropical regions than in cooler parts of the world.

Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, the study is the largest global analysis of plant-pollinator interactions.

Researchers compiled 3,415 plant-pollinator networks from 162 studies, covering more than 110,000 interactions between 5,343 pollinator species and 6,126 plant species across different parts of the world.

The research found that specialised relationships between plants and pollinators were not necessarily more common in tropical regions, as previously expected. Instead, temperature and rainfall provided a better explanation for patterns of specialisation.

The study was led by researchers from Charles University in Prague and the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic.

University of KwaZulu-Natal professor Michael Lattorff was among the co-authors.

Lattorff said Southern Africa remained poorly represented in research on plant-pollinator networks, making it difficult to predict how the region’s pollinators would respond to climate change.

“Southern Africa has few detailed pollination studies, so the region is thinly represented in global datasets,” he said.

He said the region’s rainfall patterns and seasonal changes could produce pollination patterns different from those found in Europe and North America.

“Climate change, habitat loss and the inappropriate use of pesticides were among the main pressures facing pollinators in Africa,“ he said.

Lattorff warned that the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural land could leave pollinators without suitable places to nest and find food.

This could affect pollination and reduce crop yields, particularly as many nutritious foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and spices, depend on animals for pollination.

“More research funding was needed to understand the needs of pollinators and protect them,” he said.

“Our results suggest the effects will be uneven. Warming and altered rainfall could change which plants and pollinators meet, and when. Species that depend on a few partners are generally the most exposed.”

Lattorff said practical steps to protect pollinators included preserving natural habitats, planting a variety of flowers, including indigenous plants, and reducing the use of harmful pesticides.

He called for more local research to help guide conservation efforts and ensure pollinators continue supporting food production.

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