P A R T N E R S F O R P O L L I N AT O R S

by Kim Winter The Conservation of Pollinating Species

Pollinating animals are critically

important to the maintenance of virtually

all terrestrial ecosystems yet the populashy

tion status of most pollinating species

often goes unnoticed Butterflies moths

In 1999 scientists and natural

resource managers concerned with

pollinator conservation founded the

North American Pollinator Protection

Campaign (NAPPC) administered by

Eric

Van

derW

erf bats birds bees beetles flies ants and

wasps assist almost all flowering plants

in their reproduction helping them to

develop the seeds foliage nuts and

fruits that ensure the survival of innushylsquoAkohekohe a Hawaiian bird

merable wildlife and human populashy

tions worldwide Sadly many pollinator

A lesser long-nosed bat pollinates a populations are declining precipitously

saguaro flower around the world

the Coevolution Institute to promote

the health of resident and migratory

pollinating animals NAPPC has grown

to become a partnership of more than

100 organizations ranging from unishy

versities and environmental groups to

46 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN JULy 2006 VOLUME XXXI NO 2

utility companies zoos and government

agencies throughout the United States

Canada and Mexico (httpwww

nappcorgpartners2005html) The US

Fish and Wildlife Service recently signed

a Memorandum of Understanding with

the Coevolution Institute giving the

Endangered Species Program access to

NAPPCrsquos tri-national network of experts

in pollination biology

Prompted by a NAPPC initiative the

National Academy of Sciences (http

wwwnationalacademiesorg) is undershy

taking a study of the status of pollinatshy

ing species in North America the results

of which should illuminate some of the

most important species of concern

It is unknown exactly how many

federally listed animal species are polshy

linators or how many federally listed

plant species depend on rare pollinators

for reproduction What we do know is

provided in the table In addition to the

federally listed species there are others

that may be of concern For example

the Xerces Society maintains a Red

List of Pollinators (httpwwwxerces

orgPollinator_Red_List indexhtm)

that describes the pollinating butterflies

moths and bees in need of conservashycopy M

erlin

D T

uttle

Bat

Con

serv

atio

n In

tern

atio

nal

P A R T N E R S F O R P O L L I N AT O R S

tion attention in the US Canada and

Mexico The society identifies 35 addishy

tional butterflies and 58 bees nearly half

of which are Hylaeus species in Hawaii

that either need additional study or may

need additional conservation measures

Endangered species biologists can

become involved with NAPPC pollinator

conservation by

n Considering plant-pollinator relationshy

ships Management efforts to restore

healthy populations of an endanshy

gered flowering plant must also conshy

sider the animal pollinators that may

assist in its reproduction Likewise

endangered and threatened species

of pollinators may have coevolved

with a distinct species of flowering

host plant

n Working with NAPPC scientists to n Creating pollinator habitats using

plan pollinator conservation projects ldquoPollinator Friendly Practicesrdquo

throughout the United States Canada guidelines a joint project of NAPPC

and Mexico and the Wildlife Habitat Council The

Examples of pollinator guilds currently listed under the Endangered Species Act

Birds AtleastsomebirdspecieslistedasendangeredareknowntobepollinatorsSome Hawaiianhoneycreepershaveahighlycoevolvedrelationshipwiththeplantsand mothpollinatorsuponwhichtheyfeedForexampleHawaiirsquosendangeredpalila (Loxioides bailleui)dependsuponforestsofanendemiclegumethemamane(Sophora chrysophylla)fornestingshelterandfoodCydia(Tortricidae)mothcaterpillarsalsofeed uponmamaneandareanimportantfoodresourceforpalilasdemonstratingtheintricate interrelationshipsbetweenapollinatingbirdpollinatingmothandfloweringplant

Bats Atleastthreespeciesofpollinatingbatsarefederallylistedasendangeredincludingthe lesserlong-nosedbat(Leptonycteris curasoae)Mexicanlong-nosedbat(Leptaringonycteris nivalis)andMarianafruitbat(Pteropus mariannus mariannus)Bothlong-nosedbats migratenorthfromMexicotofeedonnectarandpollenofseveralspeciesofAgave ThesebatsleavetheUSforMexicoinlatesummerorearlyfallaftertheblooming periodofagaveshaspassed

Butterflies Thereare23federallylistedspeciesofbutterfliesandskippersidentifiedaspollinators ontheXercesRedListwith17recoveryplanscompletedorindraftformMany butterfliesarelistedbecauseoftheircoevolvedrelationshipswithdiminishinghostplant populationssuchasthecasewiththeFenderrsquosbluebutterfly(Icaricia icarioides fenderi) andKincaidrsquoslupine(Lupinus sulphureus ssp kincaidii)inthePacificNorthwest

Moths TwospeciesofsphinxmotharelistedincludingtheKernprimrosesphinxmoth (Euprserpinus euterpe)whichuseseveningprimroseplants(Camissoniasp)ashost plantsWhenthisendangeredmothlaysitseggsontheintroducedplantfilaree(Erodium spp)itslarvaecannotdevelopandsoonperishpromptingitspopulationstodecline

Beetles Atleastoneofthe17speciesofbeetleslistedasendangeredmaybeapollinatorthe valleyelderberrylonghorn(Desmocerus californicus dimorphus)Itsemergencecoincides withthefloweringofitshostplanttheelderberry(Sambucusspp)whichisvisitedby otherpollinatorsElderberriesprovideanimportantsourceoffruitforatleast50species ofsongbirdsandotherwildlife

guidelines are available online at

httpwwwnappcorg They focus

attention on foraging nesting and

reproductive requirements of polshy

linating species

n Learning more about NAPPC activities

at wwwcoevolutionorg and www

nappcorg To receive links to news

articles and publications or to ask

collaborating scientists about pollinashy

tors or management practices join

the pollinator listserv at httplists

sonicnetmailmanlistinfopollinator

n Offering feedback to the National

Academy of Sciences Study on the

Status of North American Pollinators

at httpwww8nationalacademies

orgcpprojectviewaspxkey=

BLSX-K-02-06-A

n Contributing to or using the NAPPC

conservation database about plant-

pollinator relationships by contacting

infonappcorg

Dr Winter a wildlife ecologist and

International Coordinator for NAPPC

can be reached at kwnappcorg or

301-405-2666

Valley elderberry longhorn beetle

Ther

esa

S T

alle

y

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN JULy 2006 VOLUME XXXI NO 2 47