Impacts of climate change on insect pollinators and consequences for their ecological function

Abstract

Abstract One of the most urgent concerns in global biodiversity conservation is the impact of changing climate on insect pollinator biology and pollination. This chapter reviews the impacts of warmer temperatures, drought, enriched carbon dioxide and extreme weather events on insect pollinators, their plant food resources and potential shifts in their species interactions, including trait, temporal and spatial mismatches, with implications for functional change. We posit that the direct effects of climate change on the physiology, traits, phenology, abundance and distributions of insect pollinators and their plant food resources are far better understood than the indirect effects of climate on plant–pollinator interactions. Further, the functional consequences of climate-induced changes for plant pollination remain understudied, and even less is known about fitness consequences of interaction mismatches for insect pollinators.