Contribution of insect pollinators to crop yield and quality varies with agricultural intensification
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Le résumé fourni par la source
Background. Up to 75 % of crop species benefit at least to some degree from animal pollination for fruit or seed set and yield. However, basic information on the level of pollinator dependence and pollinator contribution to yield is lacking for many crops. Even less is known about how insect pollination affects crop quality. Given that habitat loss and agricultural intensification are known to decrease pollinator richness and abundance, there is a need to assess the consequences for different components of crop production. Methods . We used pollination exclusion on flowers or inflorescences on a whole plant basis to assess the contribution of insect pollination to crop yield and quality in four flowering crops (spring oilseed rape, field bean, strawberry, and buckwheat) located in four regions of Europe. For each crop, we recorded abundance and species richness of flower visiting insects in ten fields located along a gradient from simple to heterogeneous landscapes. Results . Insect pollination enhanced average crop yield between 18 and 71% depending on the crop. Yield quality was also enhanced in most crops. For instance, oilseed rape had higher oil and lower chlorophyll contents when adequately pollinated, the proportion of empty seeds decreased in buckwheat, and strawberries' commercial grade improved; however, we did not find higher nitrogen content in open pollinated field beans. Complex landscapes had a higher overall species richness of wild pollinators across crops, but visitation rates were only higher in complex landscapes for some crops. On the contrary, the overall yield was consistently enhanced by higher visitation rates, but not by higher pollinator richness. Discussion . For the four crops in this study, there is clear benefit delivered by pollinators on yield quantity and/or quality, but it is not maximized under current agricultural intensification. Honeybees, the most abundant pollinator, might partially compensate the loss of wild pollinators in some areas, but our results suggest the need of landscape-scale actions to enhance wild pollinator populations.
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Le contrôle bibliographique ouvert
DOI retrouvé dans Crossref DOI retrouvé ; titre concordant.
- Titre Crossref
- Contribution of insect pollinators to crop yield and quality varies with agricultural intensification
- Date Crossref
- 31/12/2013
- Éditeur
- PeerJ
- Type
- posted-content
Ce recoupement confirme des métadonnées liées au DOI. Il ne confirme ni la méthode ni les conclusions de l’étude, et il ne compte pas comme une seconde source scientifique indépendante.
Où se fait cette recherche
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Department of Ecology pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Reading pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Würzburg Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture pays non établi dans la noticeOrganisme public
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Jagiellonian University Institute of Environmental Sciences pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Göttingen pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of the Aegean Department of Geography pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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School of Agriculture pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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UR406 Abeilles & Environnement pays non établi dans la noticeInstitution
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Georg-August-University Department of Crop Science pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
Department of Ecology — Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, University of Reading et Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology — University of Würzburg, avec 7 autres affiliations.
Une affiliation ne permet pas de déduire la nationalité d’un auteur.