The road to 'pollination heaven' is narrow - not broad So
working out whether these insects follow the broad path, paved
with pollinating riches - or instead strike along the straight
and narrow - has big implications for the survival of the
Gomortega tree. And it could help find the best way to manage
this important hotchpotch of a landscape. Now a paper in the
latest Current Biology has demonstrated that, when it comes to
arranging 'connecting flights' between the few surviving stands
of Gomortega, the broad path of flower-rich farmland can be too
much of a distraction. It seems that narrow, rocky, resource-
poor road may be better, if pollinating nirvana is to be
achieved. That runs counter to many previous, simpler ways of
looking at how broken-up conservation areas can be stitched back
together, so as to improve the flow of pollen between them. And
because hoverflies are such generalist pollinators, the
implications of the study is likely to spill far beyond Chile's
Valdivian Forests. Dr Dan Bebber, in ch