More than 700 of the 4,000 wild bee species in North America and Hawaii are seeing falling numbers due to habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change and monoculture farming, says the Center for Biological Diversity.
Sufficient data was available for 1,437 native bee species, and of those 749 have falling populations, while 347 are nearing extinction. It’s possible that even more bee species are struggling.
Ninety percent of wild plants rely on insect pollination. “If we don’t act to save these remarkable creatures, our world will be a less colorful and more lonesome place,” Kelsey Kopec of the center said.
Some of the bees most in trouble include the “Gulf Coast solitary bee, the macropis cuckoo bee and the sunflower leafcutting bee, which is now rarely seen,” says Reuters.