1/3 of the world's major crops are pollinated by insects as are the vast majority of flowering plants. For information about our work on the pollination of threatened flowers, see our ‘Conservation’ page.
Our research on insect pollinators focuses on the following broad questions:
1. How do we design pollinator-friendly strategies formaximising pollination benefits and preserving biodiversity in rural and urban agricultural settings?
2. What role do native insects such as native bees and hoverflies play in crop pollination?
3. How does urbanisation impact pollinator populations?
4. How do exotic bees such as the honey bee and the African carder beeimpact native pollinators?
5. Why do honeybee colonies collapse and are there ways to prevent it?
6. How do insects choose which flowers to visit? How do these choices impact the pollination success of neighbouring flowers?
