North American Dipteran Pollinators: Assessing Their Value and Conservation Status

Recent attention to pollinator declines has focused largely on bees and vertebrates. However, few pollination systems are obligate, and pollinators that complement the role of bees may respond differently to environmental disturbance. The conservation status of North American fly pollinators remains undocumented. In this paper, methods for monitoring shifts in dipteran pollinator abundance are discussed. The need for further basic research into pollination by flies is addressed, and the significance of dipteran conservation is considered.