Why Are Pollinators Important? — Passage and Quiz

When you eat a juicy apple or tasty chocolate, thank a pollinator. Pollinators are animals that carry pollen from one plant to another. This helps plants make seeds and grow fruit. Without these helpers, our world would look very empty.

The most known pollinators are bees. But many other animals help too. Butterflies, moths, birds like hummingbirds, bats, and even some flies do this job. Each kind of pollinator helps certain plants. Flowers that open at night need bats and moths to visit them.

About 75% of all plants with flowers need animal pollinators. This includes many foods we love. Apples, berries, nuts, and coffee all need pollinators. In fact, one of every three bites of food we eat comes from plants that need pollinators! Without them, we would lose foods that give us key vitamins.

Pollinators also help wild plants grow. These plants make the air clean, keep soil in place, and give homes to wildlife. Many of our drugs come from plants that need pollinators too. All the work done by pollinators is worth more than $200 billion each year.

Sadly, many pollinator numbers are going down. They face trouble like habitat loss when we build where flowers once grew. Bug sprays used in gardens can hurt helpful pollinators too. Weather changes make it harder for some pollinators to find food when flowers bloom at odd times.

The good news is that you can help! You can plant flowers in your yard. You can stop using sprays that hurt bugs. You can put out small dishes of water. Even letting weeds like dandelions grow gives bees an early spring meal.

Fun fact: Some flowers have marks that people can't see, but bees can! These marks guide bees right to the flower's sweet nectar.