Impact of extreme events on pollinator assemblages

• Published in: Current opinion in insect science 2020-04, Vol.38, p.34-39
• Main Authors: Erenler, Hilary E, Gillman, Michael P, Ollerton, Jeff
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2214-5745; 2214-5745
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2020.01.007

•The impact of extreme events on pollinator assemblages is poorly understood.•Event sources can be natural, human-mediated or human-enhanced.•Events may be sudden, high-magnitude and potentially catastrophic.•Pollinator responses vary according to event origin.•Single-event studies may provide valuable insights into pollinator responses. Insect pollinators face a number of well-documented threats that challenge their survival at an individual and community level. The effect of extreme events on pollinator assemblages has received little attention to date, partly due to a lack of consensus on what constitutes extreme, but also because robust pre-event data is often lacking. Here, the term SHOCK (Sudden, High-magnitude Opportunity for a Catastrophic ‘Kick’) is used to encompass attributes of extreme events that carry the potential to add additional challenges to insect communities already facing environmental stressors. Selected events from two SHOCK categories are explored (those with natural origins and those that are human-mediated). The value of studying single events is considered in the context of a third category; human-enhanced SHOCKs.