Elevated extinction risk in over one fifth of native North American pollinators

Authors: CORNELISSE, TARA - Natureserve; INOUYE, DAVID - University Of Maryland; IRWIN, REBECCA - North Carolina State University; JEPSEN, SARINA - The Xerces Society; MAWDSLEY, JONATHAN - Natureserve; ORMES, MARGARET - Natureserve; DANIELS, JENET - University Of Florida; DEBINSKI, DIANE - Montana State University; Griswold, Terry; KLYMKO, JOHN - Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre; ORR, MICHAEL - Stuttgart State Museum Of Natural History; RICHARDSON, LEIF - The Xerces Society; SEARS, NICOLE - Natureserve; SCHWEITZER, DALE - Natureserve; YOUNG, BRUCE - Natureserve

Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/2025
Publication Date: 3/24/2025
Citation: Cornelisse, T., Inouye, D.W., Irwin, R.E., Jepsen, S., Mawdsley, J.R., Ormes, M., Daniels, J., Debinski, D., Griswold, T.L., Klymko, J., Orr, M.C., Richardson, L., Sears, N., Schweitzer, D., Young, B.E. 2025. Elevated extinction risk in over one fifth of native North American pollinators. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418742122.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418742122

Interpretive Summary: Producing food and keeping natural landscapes healthy requires pollinators. Native pollinators are thought to be in decline but there is not much proof of this. This study is the first to assess the condition of pollinators in the United States and Canada. Of the 1591 species of bees, butterflies, moths, flower flies, beetles, and bats analyzed more than a fifth (21.8%) have higher risk of extinction. Of the insect pollinators, bees were at the highest risk (35.2% of the 472 species analyzed. The southwestern United States was the region with the most threated pollinators. The threats to pollinators are different across the country including climate change, pollution, urban development and agriculture. Woodlands, shrublands and grasslands support the most species at risk. This study identifies pollinators, habitats most in need of actions to conserve pollinators.

Technical Abstract: Pollinators are critical for food production and ecosystem function. Although native pollinators are thought to be declining, the evidence is limited. This first, taxonomically diverse assessment for North America north of Mexico reveals that 21.8% of the 1591 species in the best-studied vertebrate and insect pollinator groups have elevated risk of extinction, with all three pollinating bat species at risk and bees, the insect group most at risk (best estimate, 35.2% of 472 species assessed, range 30.9-43.0%). Substantial numbers of butterflies (19.5% of 632 species, range 19.1-21.0%) and moths (16.1% of 142 species, range 15.5-19.0%) are also at risk, with beetles (12.5% of 18 species, range 11.1-22.2%), flower flies (9.5% of 307 species, range 7.5-28.3%), and hummingbirds (0% of 17 species) more secure. At-risk pollinators are concentrated where diversity is highest, in the southwestern U.S. Threats to pollinators vary geographically: climate change in the West and North, agriculture in the Great Plains, and pollution, agriculture, and urban development in the East. Woodland, shrubland/chaparral, and grassland habitats support the greatest numbers of at-risk pollinators. Strategies for improving pollinator habitat are increasingly available, and this study identifies species, habitats, and threats most in need of conservation actions at state, provincial, territorial, national, and continental levels.