Mallorca researcher: climate shapes pollinator ties

Mallorca researcher Anna Traveset helps analyse more than 110,000 links between plants and pollinators: temperature and rainfall best explain how closely plants depend on particular pollinators. The Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Palma, Mallorca, reports the international findings on 14 October 2026. The study appears in Nature Ecology & Evolution and could help explain how climate change may affect crops.

Pollinators carry pollen from flower to flower, helping plants produce fruit and seeds. Some plants rely on particular animals for this work, while others have a wider range of visitors. If a pollinator disappears or becomes active at a different time, a plant that depends on it has fewer alternatives.

Climate matters more than latitude

The researchers drew on 162 studies covering 5,343 pollinator species and 6,126 plant species. Their data span habitats from tropical forests to Mediterranean scrubland.

The findings challenge the long-held idea that close plant-pollinator relationships are most common in the tropics. Temperature and rainfall explain the global pattern better than latitude does, though their effects differ between pollinator groups.

What changing weather could mean for crops

Rising temperatures and changing rainfall could alter where species live, when plants flower and when pollinators are active. That may change when and where the two meet.

The institute says this could affect farming, particularly crops that rely on specific pollinators. The global study does not give a forecast for harvests on Mallorca.

Topics: Nature & wildlife · Agriculture

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com