The Pollination of Nepal's Micronutrient-rich Crops in a Changing Climate

四分之三的作物物种依赖传粉媒介，但它们提供的服务正受到气候变化越来越大的威胁。传粉媒介的减少预计会对人类健康产生负面影响，因为昆虫授粉作物中维生素A和叶酸等关键膳食微量营养素会从饮食中流失。预计这种“隐性饥饿”将造成重大的全球健康负担。气候变化已经影响到传粉媒介，例如，大黄蜂的地理范围正在缩小，因为它们的南部活动范围向北移动，开花植物和传粉媒介之间的同步性正在被破坏，预计气候变化将使一些地区的蜜蜂物种丰富度减少8-18%。传粉媒介的丧失对发展中国家造成了不成比例的损害，因为它们对产量下降的抵御能力较弱，而且更依赖依赖传粉媒介的小规模作物中的微量营养素。在世界偏远地区，向全民提供维生素补充剂既不实际，也不可持续；相反，通过增加摄入富含微量营养素的水果、蔬菜和豆类，使饮食多样化可能是一个解决方案。幸运的是，至少在局部地区，传粉媒介的减少是可以逆转的。此外，如果了解了气候变化对传粉媒介的影响，就可以利用栖息地管理来减轻其影响。有证据表明，气候变化、传粉媒介减少和微量营养素缺乏在我们的重点国家尼泊尔，我们的研究愿景有四个组成部分：1)预测气候变化对尼泊尔作物传粉媒介的影响；2)预测对作物生产和微量元素摄入量的影响；3)开展田间试验，测试昆虫授粉作物对气候变化的适应能力；4)制定政策和教育方案，以减轻气候变化对作物授粉和微量营养素摄入的影响。我们的国际自然科学家和卫生科学家团队将与尼泊尔的卫生专业人员合作，就气候变化对人类健康的影响这一尚未得到充分研究的问题提供信息和创新解决方案。

Three quarters of crop species depend on pollinators, but the service they provide is under increasing threat from climate change. Declines inpollinators are predicted to have negative impacts on human health as key dietary micronutrients in insect pollinated crops such as vitamin A andfolate are lost from the diet. This "hidden hunger" is predicted to cause significant global health burdens. Climate change is already affectingpollinators, for example, the geographic range of bumblebees is shrinking as their southern range moves northwards, the synchrony betweenflowering plants and their pollinators is being disrupted and climate change is predicted to decrease bee species richness by 8-18% in some areas.Pollinator loss disproportionately harms developing countries, as they are both less resilient to yield drops and more reliant on the micronutrientsfound in small-scale pollinator-dependent crops. Providing population-wide vitamin supplementation is neither practical nor sustainable in remoteparts of the world; instead, diversifying the diet by increasing access to micronutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and legumes could provide a solution.Fortunately, pollinator declines can be reversed, at least locally. Moreover, if the effect of climate change on pollinators is understood, habitatmanagement can be used to mitigate against its effects. There is evidence of climate change, pollinator declines and micronutrient deficiency in ourfocal country Nepal and our research vision has four components: 1) to predict the effect of climate change on crop pollinators in Nepal; 2) topredict the ensuing impact on crop production and micronutrient intake; 3) run a field experiment to test the resilience of insect pollinated crops toclimate change; 4) develop a policy and education package to mitigate the effects of climate change on crop pollination and micronutrient intake.Working with health professionals in Nepal, our international team of natural scientists and health scientists will provide information and innovativesolutions for an understudied impact of climate change on human health.