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The Forgotten Pollinators
Consider Without interaction between animals and flowering plants, the seeds and fruits that make up nearly eighty percent of the human diet would not exist. 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 other 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 and animals, and demonstrate 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."
312 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1996
22 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Buchmann
15 books32 followersStephen Buchmann is an Adjunct Professor of Entomology and Ecology/Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. Stephen has published nearly 200 scientific articles and 11 books. His newest book is "What a Bee Knows" from Island Press (DC). He is a pollination ecologist known for his studies of buzz pollination, oil-producing flowers, and the conservation biology of native bees and their flowers. His books include "The Forgotten Pollinators" with Gary Paul Nabhan, "The Reason for Flowers," and his children's book: "The Bee Tree" (Lee & Low Books, NY). Buchmann also enjoys landscape and macrophotography along with creating small fine art bronzes. He's a frequent guest on NPR radio programs including All Things Considered and Science Friday. His literary awards include the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, and the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 4, 2009
The format of info interspersed with the authors' anecdotes was an OK format. The discussion of various pollinators and their evolutionary relationship with the plant world was a swaying argument as I plan several native plant gardens.
Some significant highlights:
Generalist vs. specialist pollinators, and how their physical features or methods of visiting plants have co-evolved with the phenology of various plant species.
Keystone species within a given ecosystem, and the fragility of those systems as some become isolated into 'islands' within habitat corridors, given human encroachment and pesticide usage.
The book makes a good argument that reminds me that, although I will make an effort to plant native species, I will be creating discrete areas that are not necessarily contiguous with a habitat corridor, but that perhaps our individual efforts will be nearby reminders for many people of what we need to stand up for in larger-scale habitat conservation efforts.
Some significant highlights:
Generalist vs. specialist pollinators, and how their physical features or methods of visiting plants have co-evolved with the phenology of various plant species.
Keystone species within a given ecosystem, and the fragility of those systems as some become isolated into 'islands' within habitat corridors, given human encroachment and pesticide usage.
The book makes a good argument that reminds me that, although I will make an effort to plant native species, I will be creating discrete areas that are not necessarily contiguous with a habitat corridor, but that perhaps our individual efforts will be nearby reminders for many people of what we need to stand up for in larger-scale habitat conservation efforts.
December 1, 2018
Really good.
I had read about this years ago, and finally got around to it, expecting something fairly academic.
I was surprised then to see the vivid, kind of aggressive cover as various pollinators come right at you. This is accompanied by several other illustrations that are surprisingly lush for being black and white.
Even better, the prose is informative without being dull, and conveys a lushness to life. There is so much variety. There are so many types of bees besides honeybees, and so many pollinators besides bees, and so many ways for pollination to happen.
Originally written in 1996, the environmental situation has gotten worse, but there are chapters that give hope, and I ended up worrying, but not despairing.
One thing that becomes clear is that when we think about helping bees, it is often not the honeybee that needs the most help. They may sometimes be hurting other bees needed for specific plants. So, find out what needs are in your area, and then act.
I had read about this years ago, and finally got around to it, expecting something fairly academic.
I was surprised then to see the vivid, kind of aggressive cover as various pollinators come right at you. This is accompanied by several other illustrations that are surprisingly lush for being black and white.
Even better, the prose is informative without being dull, and conveys a lushness to life. There is so much variety. There are so many types of bees besides honeybees, and so many pollinators besides bees, and so many ways for pollination to happen.
Originally written in 1996, the environmental situation has gotten worse, but there are chapters that give hope, and I ended up worrying, but not despairing.
One thing that becomes clear is that when we think about helping bees, it is often not the honeybee that needs the most help. They may sometimes be hurting other bees needed for specific plants. So, find out what needs are in your area, and then act.
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April 12, 2009Most people know that honeybees pollinate plants. This book deals with less-familiar pollinators.
It's important for people to know these things, because otherwise they do things like make alfalfa fields too big for alkali bees to pollinate them, and fail to provide alternate food sources for pollinators of agricultural crops.
It's also necessary knowledge for people who are planning space colonies. You can't go on forever pollinating plants with a bee abdomen on a stick, after all. Won't work on any kind of scale.
There need to be compsnion volumes on seed disseminatore, insectivores, etc, but this is a good start.
It's important for people to know these things, because otherwise they do things like make alfalfa fields too big for alkali bees to pollinate them, and fail to provide alternate food sources for pollinators of agricultural crops.
It's also necessary knowledge for people who are planning space colonies. You can't go on forever pollinating plants with a bee abdomen on a stick, after all. Won't work on any kind of scale.
There need to be compsnion volumes on seed disseminatore, insectivores, etc, but this is a good start.
August 23, 2007
Too long ago to remember the details, except that I remembered it read pretty well, always an achievement in science books, and that I was absolutely amazed and highly impressed by how important pollination was to world food supply and health and how little care we have shown for the pollinators. This is all being played out again today with the heavy hit honeybees are taking.
September 11, 2008
Written 12 years ago, the book gives an in depth look at pollination and how we have had an impact on how plants and insects (and some animals) interact. It is a fascinating look into the natural world. For serious nature-lovers.
July 28, 2011
I like to read natural history, but it's tough to find a good one that isn't over my head. This one was perfectly pitched to my level of understanding, but isn't dumbed down either. It's a little out of date, but still worthwhile.
September 30, 2008
This is a must-read for people who are interested in the planet's survival.
November 4, 2010
With Colony Collapse Disorder killing off European honey bees, it's time to remember native pollinators. Nabhan and Buchmann summarize the situation for other ways to help plants make fruit.
December 7, 2022
This was an interesting look at the connections between pollinators and their ecosystems. The book makes a strong case for looking beyond honeybees for both conservation and agricultural pollination. Unfortunately, since the book was written in the 90s, I was left wondering how things have changed since then. It's still a good read, but I also want to keep looking for something a bit more up-to-date.
October 27, 2025
I know the authors study or studied bees, but I was expecting more stories about non-hymenoptera.
It is a great book about non-Apis bees and some other groups of animals that pollinate flowers (some butterflies and moths, bats, some flies and coleopteracoleoptera) but it felt Hymenoptera centered.
It is a great book about non-Apis bees and some other groups of animals that pollinate flowers (some butterflies and moths, bats, some flies and coleopteracoleoptera) but it felt Hymenoptera centered.
November 23, 2021
Recommended.
January 6, 2009
This book conveys some dramatic irony. It was written in the mid-90s, long before stories about collapsing honeybee populations made national news, a low-simmering indicator of national decay on the order of the Gary Condit scandal. Reading a dire prophecy that turned out spot on is depressing, but the style and order of the writing gives it an abstract consonance that, for me anyway, makes it akin to watching the Jim Lehrer NewsHour--reasonable people talking about madness.
These two bee biologists focus not only on the repercussions of a collapse in European honeybee populations in dollar and ecological terms, but develop a nuanced picture of how European honeybees infringe on the terrain of native pollinators--bees, other kinds of insects and birds. Sometimes European honeybees are inept at pollinating, displacing skilled pollinators but doing a less efficient job. Sometimes farmers have learned to propagate a local pollinator to great effect, as in the case of a bee that nests in alkaline flats in Utah, only to forget that knowledge in subsequent decades, or spray or see their property indirectly affected by a new disastrous insecticide. In the case of the alkaline bees, farmers started tilling soil under pressure to produce more alfalfa, turning up, as the authors memorably put it, bee larvae like popcorn in their wake. In the case of blueberry farmers in Canada, the use of a new insecticide on nearby forestland turned out to be incredibly lethal for the local pollinator and ended up reducing blueberry production by 3/4 in one year.
Despite all the foolishness, the book goes down easy. Occasionally lovely specialist terms like "depaupate" or "floral resources" embellish the prose.
These two bee biologists focus not only on the repercussions of a collapse in European honeybee populations in dollar and ecological terms, but develop a nuanced picture of how European honeybees infringe on the terrain of native pollinators--bees, other kinds of insects and birds. Sometimes European honeybees are inept at pollinating, displacing skilled pollinators but doing a less efficient job. Sometimes farmers have learned to propagate a local pollinator to great effect, as in the case of a bee that nests in alkaline flats in Utah, only to forget that knowledge in subsequent decades, or spray or see their property indirectly affected by a new disastrous insecticide. In the case of the alkaline bees, farmers started tilling soil under pressure to produce more alfalfa, turning up, as the authors memorably put it, bee larvae like popcorn in their wake. In the case of blueberry farmers in Canada, the use of a new insecticide on nearby forestland turned out to be incredibly lethal for the local pollinator and ended up reducing blueberry production by 3/4 in one year.
Despite all the foolishness, the book goes down easy. Occasionally lovely specialist terms like "depaupate" or "floral resources" embellish the prose.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews