Isn’t pollen just… pollen? Why can’t native birds/bees/butterflies benefit from the pollen of invasive flowers?
In: Biology
If you have the time are really interested, Doug Tallamy has a cool YouTube video on it (and many other native plant related things as well).
But for the ELI5, a lot of pollinators are what are called “specialized”, which means they only feed or live on one or two plants, and no others. If those plants aren’t around any more, the pollinator dies. They die even if there are other plants around with similar nectar or pollen.
Also, it looks like even the pollinators that are not called specialized (generalists) are still very picky and will only feed or live on the plants they have fed or lived on for many, many years.
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