A species of bee fly sits on common yarrow flowers.
We often hear about efforts to support and conserve rare species, like the spotted owl or Joshua trees. But
new findings argue that some very ordinary plants and animals deserve our attention, too.
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder monitored plants and pollinator species in a Colorado mountain meadow for more than five years. They found a complex web of interactions, with so-called “generalist” species at the center – that is, species that interact with a bunch of other kinds of species.
That includes insects like flies and flowering plants like the common yarrow, which has a little platform of white flowers.