Bringing It Home....

YO!! So for my final required post I'll be bringing the issue back home. What's happening with pollinators in New Zealand?
Well as you know, not all pollinators are bees, although it still holds true that some in New Zealand are. And the good news is that our native bee species are competing quite well with the intruders (or exotic species). Other than a wee overlap with nesting sites, they seem to pretty much do their own thing.
The problem in New Zealand comes with other pollinators, it has recently been shown that birds have been severely underestimated as important native pollinators.
In 2003 Anderson published an experiment which manipulated the natural environment on offshore islands to include or exclude birds and recorded the results of pollination of five flowering species by comparing fruit sets. The plants which had been exposed to these honey eating native birds had significantly larger fruit sets.
In addition a total of eight plant species (Sophora microphylla, Vitex lucens, Pittosporum crassifolium, Pittosporum umbellatum, Pseudopanax arboreus, Dysoxylum spectabile, Metrosideros excelsa and Geniostoma ligustrifolium) were observed to determine the main pollinating species. The first five species mentioned showed that the endemic honey eaters were most likely to meet the requirement of successful pollination, for the final two species  the study said the results were 'equivalent', equivalent to what I am not sure....
These results need to be considered when undertaking ecosystem conservation efforts, in New Zealand putting a beehive into areas for pollination will not be sufficient. Our nectar feeding birds and other insects have evolved to do the job the exotic species cannot.