Spring is the season of the birds and the bees. Some people may snigger at that statement, but it’s relevant on multiple levels.

At this time of year, birds migrate to their summer territories and start building nests, and bees buzz early blossoms.

The activity is a prelude to mating and reproducing — the suite of activities that comprise avian and apiarian amorosity, a.k.a. making more birds and bees.

But some birds and all bees, as well as wasps, butterflies, moths, beetles, flower flies, and some bats provide vital services in bringing the next generation of plants into being. As key participants in plants’ hanky-panky, pollinators make possible more than $15 billion worth of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds we humans eat.

And, as presented in a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and reported in these pages, those critters — and their pollination services — are losing ground in North America.

Of 759 pollinators assessed in Canada, just over 10 per cent were found to be at risk of extinction to some degree. Of 1,579 pollinators studied in the U.S., 22.5 per cent were at risk.

News that some of these pollinators are in trouble isn’t new. Colony collapse disorder, disease,........

© Times Colonist