High land-use intensity significantly reduces pollinator biodiversity in urban and pasture areas

Nature · Published 2 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Researchers who modeled the global impact of land use on pollinators found that while low-intensity changes can sometimes benefit biodiversity, high-intensity human activity generally causes sharp declines. By analyzing a database of 303 studies across 12,170 sites, the team observed that urban and pasture environments are particularly vulnerable to these losses.

The study highlights that urban areas can see a 43% reduction in species richness and a 62% drop in abundance as land use intensifies. In contrast, the negative effects on cropland are primarily restricted to tropical regions. These findings help clarify how human expansion threatens essential ecosystem services.

The researchers used a modeling approach to synthesize data from 4,502 pollinating species. A limitation of this work is that it relies on a database of existing studies, which may have inherent gaps in geographic or taxonomic representation.

Why it matters: Understanding how land use intensity affects pollinators is crucial for preserving biodiversity in rapidly changing environments like the tropics.

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