The diversity of wild bees and their importance for agriculture and nature was presented. Pollinators are the keystone species in most terrestrial ecosystems. 78 % of wildflowers need biotic pollination provided by insects and 84 % of European crops are directly dependent on insect pollination. The estimated value of crop pollination in Europe and Slovenia is around 22 billion EUR and 120 million EUR per year (10 % of the total economic value of agronomical output for human food). Wild pollinators are dominated by wild bees (bumblebees and solitary bees) and hoverflies while butterflies, beetles and other insects provide smaller contributions. The diversity of pollinators improves crop yield or fruit quality and thus restoring and maintaining pollinator diversity is thus very important for agriculture as well as for natural vegetation. In recent years a dramatic decline in wild pollinators has been documented in many European countries. According to the European Red list of bees 9.2 % of wild bee species are considered threatened. Bumblebees are the best studied group and of 69 European bumblebee species, 23.6% are threatened with extinction. Moreover, 45.6% of bumblebee species have declining population trend. The main identified reasons for pollinator decline are habitat loss due to agricultural intensification and urban sprawl (loss of floral resources and nesting sites), pesticides, diseases and climate changes. At present, Slovenia still has a relatively high diversity of wild bees (563 species) but nevertheless, 14% of wild bees are considered threatened with extinction. Geography and related forest coverage prevent development of intensive agriculture on surfaces comparable to those in large parts of Western Europe. Therefore the potential of wild pollinators in Slovenia is still great, but largely ignored. Development of strategy for managing wild pollinators is therefore a short-term imperative.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4099151