Pollinating
Birds Won't Cross Cleared Land
Scientists from Oregon State University have glued tiny transmitters
to hummingbirds in Costa Rica to figure out why plant pollination by
birds and insects is crashing around the world.
They found that even when it meant a much longer trip, the hermit
hummingbirds kept to the forest, rather than cross land cleared for
farms.
The findings are published in the journal Biology Letters and shed
light on a long-standing issue in ecology: the fragmentation of
ecosystems by roads and development.
The scientists say the findings suggest that isolated patches of
forest may ultimately result in species decline, because birds that
normally spread pollen won't cross developed land to visit them. |
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