Abstract:

Ecological intensification, or the improvement of crop yield through enhancement of biodiversity, may be a sustainable pathway toward greater food supplies. Such sustainable increases may be especially important for the 2 billion people reliant on small farms, many of which are undernourished, yet we know little about the efficacy of this approach. Using a coordinated protocol across regions and crops, we quantify to what degree enhancing pollinator density and richness can improve yields on 344 fields from 33 pollinator-dependent crop systems in small and large farms from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For fields less than 2 hectares, we found that yield gaps could be closed by a median of 24% through higher flower-visitor density. For larger fields, such benefits only occurred at high flower-visitor richness.Worldwide, our study demonstrates that ecological intensification can create synchronous biodiversity and yield outcomes.

Author affiliation: Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Rio Negro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Rio Negro; Argentina

Author affiliation: Carvalheiro, Luísa G.. Universidade do Brasília; Brasil

Author affiliation: Vaissière, Bernard E.. Centre de Recherche de Nantes. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia

Author affiliation: Gemmill Herren, Barbara. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Italia

Author affiliation: Hipólito, Juliana. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasil

Author affiliation: Freitas, Breno M.. Universidade Federal do Ceará; Brasil

Author affiliation: Ngo, Hien T.. Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Alemania

Author affiliation: Azzu, Nadine. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Italia

Author affiliation: Sáez, Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Author affiliation: Åström, Jens. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research; Noruega

Author affiliation: An, Jiandong. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; China

Author affiliation: Blochtein, Betina. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil

Author affiliation: Buchori, Damayanti. Bogor Agricultural University; Indonesia

Author affiliation: Chamorro García, Fermín J.. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Colombia

Author affiliation: Da Silva, Fabiana Oliveira. Universidade Federal de Sergipe; Brasil

Author affiliation: Devkota, Kedar. Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science; Nepal

Author affiliation: De Fátima Ribeiro, Márcia. Embrapa Semiárido; Brasil

Author affiliation: Freitas, Leandro. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil

Author affiliation: Gaglianone, Maria C.. Universidade Estadual Do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro; Brasil

Author affiliation: Goss, Maria. University of Zimbabwe; Zimbabue

Author affiliation: Irshad, Mohammad. Honey Bee Research Institute; Pakistán

Author affiliation: Kasina, Muo. Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation-Sericulture; Kenia

Author affiliation: Pacheco Filho, Alípio J.S.. Universidade Federal do Ceará; Brasil

Author affiliation: Piedade Kiill, Lucia H.. Embrapa Semiárido; Brasil

Author affiliation: Kwapong, Peter. University of Cape Coast; Ghana

Author affiliation: Parra, Guiomar Nates. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Colombia

Author affiliation: Pires, Carmen. Parque Estação Biológica; Brasil

Author affiliation: Pires, Viviane. Instituto do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídrico; Brasil

Author affiliation: Rawal, Ranbeer S.. G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development; India

Author affiliation: Rizali, Akhmad. University of Brawijaya; Indonesia

Author affiliation: Saraiva, Antonio M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil

Author affiliation: Veldtman, Ruan. South African National Biodiversity Institute; Sudáfrica. Stellenbosch University; Sudáfrica

Author affiliation: Viana, Blandina F.. Universidade Federal da Bahia; Brasil

Author affiliation: Witter, Sidia. Fundação Estadual de Pesquisa Agropecuária; Brasil

Author affiliation: Zhang, Hong. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; China