Editing Pollination (section)

=== Food security and pollinator decline ===

Besides the imbalance of the ecosystem caused by the decline in pollinators, it may jeopardise [[food security]]. Pollination is necessary for plants to continue their populations and 3/4 of the plant species that contribute to the world's food supply are plants that require pollinators.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal | vauthors = Tylianakis JM | title = Ecology. The global plight of pollinators | journal = Science | volume = 339 | issue = 6127 | pages = 1532–3 | date = March 2013 | pmid = 23449995 | doi = 10.1126/science.1235464 | s2cid = 10735480 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Insect pollinators, like bees, are large contributors to crop production, over 200&nbsp;billion dollars worth of crop species are pollinated by these insects.<ref name=":4" />  Pollinators are also essential because they improve crop quality and increase genetic diversity, which is necessary in producing fruit with nutritional value and various flavors.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Sluijs |first1=Jeroen P. van der |last2=Vaage |first2=Nora S. | name-list-style = vanc |date=2016-06-01 |title=Pollinators and Global Food Security: the Need for Holistic Global Stewardship |journal=[[Food Ethics (journal)|Food Ethics]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=75–91 |doi=10.1007/s41055-016-0003-z|doi-access=free }}</ref> Crops that do not depend on animals for pollination but on the wind or self-pollination, like corn and potatoes, have doubled in production and make up a large part of the human diet but do not provide the micronutrients that are needed.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal | vauthors = Eilers EJ, Kremen C, Smith Greenleaf S, Garber AK, Klein AM | title = Contribution of pollinator-mediated crops to nutrients in the human food supply | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 6 | issue = 6 | pages = e21363 | date = 2011-06-22 | pmid = 21731717 | pmc = 3120884 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0021363 | bibcode = 2011PLoSO...621363E | doi-access = free }}</ref> The essential nutrients that are necessary in the human diet are present in plants that rely on animal pollinators.<ref name=":5" /> There have been issues in vitamin and mineral deficiencies and it is believed that if pollinator populations continue to decrease these deficiencies will become even more prominent.<ref name=":9" />