Historical collections as a tool for assessing the global pollination crisis.

ABSTRACT: There is increasing concern about the decline of pollinators worldwide. However, despite reports that pollinator declines are widespread, data are scarce and often geographically and taxonomically biased. These biases limit robust inference about any potential pollinator crisis. Non-structured and opportunistic historical specimen collection data provide the only source of historical information which can serve as a baseline for identifying pollinator declines. Specimens historically collected and preserved in museums not only provide information on where and when species were collected, but also contain other ecological information such as species interactions and morphological traits. Here, we provide a synthesis of how researchers have used historical data to identify long-term changes

SUBMITTER: Bartomeus I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6282077 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature