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Climate Change May Separate Wild Vanilla Plants From Pollinators, Risking Future Supply
- Researchers led by Charlotte Watteyn reported on July 3 that climate change could disrupt habitat overlap between 11 wild and cultivated vanilla species and their pollinators by 2050.
- The disruption follows climate-driven shifts in rainfall and temperature that may cause up to a 90 percent decrease in habitat overlap, risking plant-pollinator mismatches.
- Simulations under two environmental scenarios predicted habitat shrinkage for four vanilla species and expansion by up to 140 percent for seven others, yet pollinator-dependency threatens natural populations.
- Watteyn highlighted that Vanilla orchids rely heavily on specific pollinators for reproduction, while Prof Bart Muys emphasized the importance of preserving the extensive genetic diversity found in wild vanilla populations to support future breeding efforts.
- Findings suggest urgent action to enhance vanilla farming resilience and conserve wild populations to secure the crop's future, a key tropical export benefiting smallholder communities globally.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Climate change will cause the spatial mismatch between sexually deceptive beetle daisy (Gorteria diffusa, Asteraceae) and its pollinator
Climate change is a major driver of biodiversity loss, affecting complex ecological relationships. Plants that rely on animal pollen vectors for reproduction are more sensitive to habitat disturbance, as any change in local pollinator species composition, abundance or foraging behaviour can affect the reproductive success of a plant population. This study used ecological niche modelling to investigate the effects of global warming on the spatial…
Climate change may separate wild vanilla plants from pollinators, risking future supply
Vanilla flavoring is widely used in food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The primary source, Vanilla planifolia, however, is vulnerable to diseases, drought, and heat—stressors expected to become more frequent under climate change. Wild Vanilla species offer a genetic reservoir of crop wild relatives ensuring the future of the vanilla crop. Scientists have now examined how climate change could cause mismatches in habitat overlap of wild vanilla…
Will we soon have to give up this sweet, indulgent taste that brightens our childhood desserts? According to a study published July 3 in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, climate change could disrupt the distribution of vanilla and its pollinators. This could pose a risk to global supply. To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied the changing distribution of 11 species of wild vanilla in North America (…) Read more In brief / Nature
Global warming is increasingly changing the habitats of tropical plants and their pollinators. A new study shows that wild vanilla species are also affected.
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