Why bees are important for the ecosystem — Esraa’s student essay

Why Bees Are Important For The Ecosystem?

The important role bees play in the ecosystem cannot be overstated. Bees are pollinators, so they are responsible for pollinating the fruits, vegetables, and crops that humans and other animals rely on for sustenance. Additionally, by pollinating plants, bees help to maintain and enhance the biodiversity of an ecosystem. 

Despite their importance, bees are currently facing a crisis, and according to the Yale Environment Review, this is largely due to human activities; however, actions can be taken to mitigate the harmful effects humans have had on bees.

Bees pollinate vegetables, plants, and crops. By doing so, they “provide services worth roughly $215 billion to the global agricultural industry” (YER). To put this in the perspective of the United States, pollinators, like bees, “contribute $24 billion to the U.S. agriculture industry, making up a third of the food consumed by Americans” (Earth Day). 

Not only do bees have a strong economic impact on the agricultural industry, but they also pollinate most of the food the world relies on. Greenpeace states that “honeybees perform about 80% of all pollination worldwide. So, not only is the agricultural economy worldwide, and in the United States, heavily dependent on the labor of bees, humans and other animals that rely on plants for food have bees to thank. 

 

Bee pollinating on a flower blossom

According to Earth Day, because the survival of bees is so interconnected with that of other species, with many animals relying on bees to pollinate their food, without bee’s other species would likely suffer due to habitat and food loss. Bees pollinate the fruits, nuts, and flowers that animals like birds and insects need to survive. Without food or the proper environment these animals need, many of them would die off.

Bees also contribute to the biodiversity of the ecosystem. Biodiversity is important because more plant species mean more crops that can support life. Biodiverse ecosystems are better able to withstand any disasters that occur, such as the invasion of a non-native species or the growth of bacteria or fungus that attacks plants in an area (Global Issues). 

By pollinating different trees, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and more, bees help to spread different species across an ecosystem. The resulting biodiversity makes for a healthy ecosystem and one that is capable of support the demands of animal life around it by providing them with a suitable habitat.

Despite the immensely important roles bees play as pollinators, they are currently facing a crisis that is causing large numbers of them to die. According to Earth Day, the death of bees is due to human activities such as urbanization, which takes away from bees’ habitats and leads to behavior changes in foraging and mating. 

Additionally, agricultural practices such as monoculture farming reduce the biodiversity of an area, leading to fewer plants for bees to pollinate. Without enough biodiversity, bees are not capable of providing for their colony and the rest of the ecosystem. 

Climate change is also a culprit. Due to rising temperatures and reduced vegetation, many environments have become inhospitable to bees. A solution offered by Earth Day is to plant a bee-friendly garden that would add more plants to urban areas and allow bees to pollinate these areas and to avoid the use of insecticides that may harm bees.

Bees highlight the interconnectedness of our ecosystem. Humans and animals rely on bees for food, and the economy of the agricultural industry also depends on bees. It is vital to understand the importance of bees as pollinators and protectors of biodiversity to promote their health and, in turn, the overall health of our environment.

Author: Esraa Wasel

University of Houston

Sources

  • https://environment-review.yale.edu/what-happening-bees-0
  • https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/save-the-bees/#:~:text=A%20single%20bee%20colony%20can,nutrition%20%E2%80%94%20are%

    20pollinated%20by%20bees.
  • https://www.earthday.org/wp-content/uploads/species/bees.pdf
  • https://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares

Student Scholarships

Every year Thrive Pest Control hosts an essay contest and the reward is a 1-year scholarship at a 4-year university in the United States. This blog post is one of those scholarships.