Wild pollinators enhance fruit set of crops regardless of honey-bee abundance

• Autores: Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro; Aizen, Marcelo Adrian; Chacoff, Natacha Paola
• Año de publicación: 2013
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Pollinator Decline; Pollination Crisis; Pollinator Diversity; Honeybees
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

The diversity and abundance of wild insect pollinators have declined in many agricultural landscapes. Whether such declines reduce crop yields, or are mitigated by managed pollinators such as honey bees, is unclear. We found universally positive associations of fruit set with flower visitation by wild insects in 41 crop systems worldwide. In contrast, fruit set increased significantly with flower visitation by honey bees in only 14% of the systems surveyed. Overall, wild insects pollinated crops more effectively; an increase in wild insect visitation enhanced fruit set by twice as much as an equivalent increase in honey bee visitation. Visitation by wild insects and honey bees promoted fruit set independently, so pollination by managed honey bees supplemented, rather than substituted for, pollination by wild insects. Our results suggest that new practices for integrated management of both honey bees and diverse wild insect assemblages will enhance global crop yields.
Fil: Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Aizen, Marcelo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Chacoff, Natacha Paola. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina