Unsung Pollinators of the U.S.

Biodiversity: Biodiversity is the biological variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually greater near the equator, which is the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity.

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Climate Change: Climate change includes both global warming driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns.

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Colony: A group of bats living together, usually ranging between 100 to over 1,000.

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Ecosystem: An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, like wind and rain, interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

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Eusocial: Eusociality, the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups

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Foraging: Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce.

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Global Warming: Climate change includes both global warming driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns.

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Habitat: A habitat is a place where an organism, like a bee, bat or moth lives. It must have available the right kinds of food, shelter, water and space. Example: the ocean is a good habitat for fish but not good for humans.

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Hibernating: Hibernation is a seasonal state characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most commonly occurs during winter months.

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Historical range: The natural range or geographical areas that a particular species was known or believed to occupy in the past.

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Insect Apocalypse: Starting around the year 2000, and more frequently since 2017, researchers have documented large population declines among moths, beetles, bees, butterflies and many other insect types.

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Larvae (Larva): Larva, plural larvae, or larvas, stage in the development of many animals, occurring after birth or hatching and before the adult form is reached. These immature, active forms are structurally different from the adults and are adapted to a different environment.

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Migrate: To move from one region or habitat to another according to the seasons

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Optimism: A disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

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Pupate: A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, with four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago.

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Roosting: When bats or birds settle for rest or sleep

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Species: In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity.

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Ultraviolet Light: Ultraviolet is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight, and constitutes about 10% of the total electromagnetic radiation output from the sun.