Ecologists have long worried that climate extremes might unravel the intricate networks of interactions between plants and their pollinators. A field study of unprecedented scale now shows how these networks actually respond when temperatures soar.
By recording tens of thousands of insect visits before, during and after record heatwaves, Dlamini and colleagues found that pollinators rapidly shifted towards heat-tolerant plants. Overall visitation held steady—a sign of resilience—but plants that rely on a few specialist pollinators set far fewer seeds.
The findings suggest that network flexibility may mask hidden losses. Conservation planning that focuses on total pollinator abundance could miss the plants most at risk.
