Trees and Pollinators in a Changing Climate
Part of our series on tree sex
We will focus here on the vast majority of the world’s plants that are pollinated by animals. In the tropics, nearly all plants are animal pollinated, with the percent declining as we move toward the boreal region, where the majority are are pollinated by wind.
The dance between trees and their animal pollinators is among the most sophisticated events in nature, requiring perfect timing of complex behavior by both parties. Both climate change and biodiversity loss may have serious impacts on the ability of trees to reproduce, and may radically alter the structure and diversity of our forests. There are huge gaps in our understanding of plant-pollinator interactions that make predictions uncertain, but most indications are for declines in tree reproductive success.
