The Benefits of Bees
As spring approaches and bees and other insects begin pollinating flowers and crops, a study from the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University shows just how valuable these insects are.
Using publicly available price and production data combined with existing pollination field studies, the team identified key areas in the U.S. that produce economically and nutritionally valuable crops, such as apples or almonds, and are also highly dependent on pollinators like honeybees, butterflies and wasps. By overlaying maps of predicted wild bee abundance, the researchers identified areas where there was high economic dependence on pollinators but low predicted abundance of pollinators.
The business of bees
The economic value of insect pollination services is much higher than previously thought in the U.S., new research finds
Researchers found that the economic value of insect pollinators was $34 billion in the U.S. in 2012.
Image: Leon Plump, Unsplash
The business of bees
February 04, 2021
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. The economic value of insect pollinators was $34 billion in the U.S. in 2012, much higher than previously thought, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State. The team also found that areas that are economically most reliant on insect pollinators are the same areas where pollinator habitat and forage quality are poor.
The business of bees
The economic value of insect pollinators was $34 billion in the U.S. in 2012, much higher than previously thought, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State. The team also found that areas that are economically most reliant on insect pollinators are the same areas where pollinator habitat and forage quality are poor.
“Pollinators like bees play an extremely important role in agriculture,” explained senior author Vikas Khanna, Wellington C. Carl Faculty Fellow and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering. “The insects that pollinate farmers’ crops underpin our ecosystem biodiversity and function, human nutrition, and even economic welfare.”
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IMAGE: Vikas Khanna, Wellington C. Carl Faculty Fellow and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Pitt s Swanson School of Engineering view more
Credit: University of Pittsburgh
The economic value of insect pollinators was $34 billion in the U.S. in 2012, much higher than previously thought, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University. The team also found that areas that are economically most reliant on insect pollinators are the same areas where pollinator habitat and forage quality are poor. Pollinators like bees play an extremely important role in agriculture, explained senior author Vikas Khanna, Wellington C. Carl Faculty Fellow and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Pitt s Swanson School of Engineering. The insects that pollinate farmers crops underpin our ecosystem biodiversity and function, human nutrition, and even economic welfare.