From BBC | ‘The FUTURE OF EARTH‘, by Science Focus

If these die out, we will too

BEES

Insects have been pollinating flowers for 100 million years. About 70 percent of our agriculture today depends on them, and bee pollination of crops has been valued at $20bn in the US.   But fertilizers, pesticides, habitat loss, invasion species, and diseases are devastating global bee populations, with potentially catastrophic consequences for food production.

BATS

These mammals play a vital role in food production, particularity in the tropics.   They pollinate flowers and disperse fruit seeds, but also consume insect pests—saving us millions of dollars in pesticides.   Without bats, we’d have no bananas, mangoes or tequila.

CORAL

Earth’s richest ecosystems are coral reefs.   They offer a home to enormous biological wealth—fish, molluscs, sharks, turtles, sponges, crustaceans, and many more.   They protect coastlines from storms, filter water, and store carbon. Not a bad effort for one percent of Earth’s surface.

PLANKTON

Do you like breathing?   You’ve got plankton to thank for that—it produces between 50 to 85 percent of oxygen in the atmosphere.   These tiny organisms also sink carbon to the bottom of the oceans. Not only that, they’re the base of the world’s food webs, as they are eaten by almost everything else.

FUNGI

Fungi are Nature’s recyclers, turning waste into vital nutrients for various plants and animals.   As well as this, they help produce various cheeses, chocolate, soft drinks, and many vita drugs, such as penicillin and cholesterol controlling statins.

From the editors of BBC – ‘The FUTURE OF EARTH, by Science Focus
(This is not an online source, it is from a special edition magazine)

(this is a repost)