Pollinators Come In A Variety Of Forms. While People Tend To Be Most Familiar With Bees And Butterflies,

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Wolves may be pollinators as well as predators, study suggests | CNN

The endangered Ethiopian wolf has been observed licking the flowers of red hot poker plants, and now scientists believe it may play a role i

Pollinators come in a variety of forms. While people tend to be most familiar with bees and butterflies, there are numerous other animals from beetles to birds to bats--and now wolves--that also facilitate the pollination of various plants.

This, to me, just illustrates yet again why the removal of even one native species from the ecosystem it evolved in can have wide-ranging repercussions. While we are continuing to learn all sorts of amazing ways that species depend on each other, we've barely scratched the surface of what there is to know.

At a time when extinction is accelerating due to factors ranging from habitat loss and fragmentation to invasive species to the ever-expanding effects of anthropogenic climate change, it is even more crucial that we protect all extant species, even those that are not as charismatic or high-profile. When we lose a species forever, the ecosystem loses all the benefits that species provided--and we lose the opportunity to learn about those complex relationships.

While those responsible for the greatest amount of damage are largely concerned with next quarter's profits and what they can milk out of "natural resources" before they disappear, those of us intimately acquainted with the workings of the natural world know that there is much more value to all of us in preserving and restoring as much of our planet's natural systems as possible, not merely for abstract understanding of natural history, but the ongoing maintenance of every living being's life support system.