Highly mobile vertebrate pollinators (birds and bats) disperse pollen over large areas during feeding bouts, promoting out-crossing and increasing genetic variation in the plants and plant populations they visit. This genetic variation builds ecological resilience in ecosystems, increasing their capacity to withstand or adapt to pressures from anthropogenic change. Long-distance pollen flow is particularly important in highly fragmented landscapes. It may also provide a mechanism to help long-lived eucalypts withstand the challenges of climate change.
Key winter and spring food plants for nomadic pollinators are identified in this report, as are the vegetation communities that contain them. Recommendations for plantings in key regional areas are made, and the threatened pollinators that may benefit from the plantings are identified.
