The economic cost of losing native pollinator species for orchard production
Pérez-Méndez, Néstor ; Andersson, Georg K.S. LU
; Requier, Fabrice
; Hipólito, Juliana
; Aizen, Marcelo A.
; Morales, Carolina L.
; García, Nancy
; Gennari, Gerardo P.
and Garibaldi, Lucas A.
(2020)
In Journal of Applied Ecology
57(3).
p.599-608
- Abstract
The alarming loss of pollinator diversity world-wide can reduce the productivity of pollinator-dependent crops, which could have economic impacts. However, it is unclear to what extent the loss of a key native pollinator species affects crop production and farmer's profits. By experimentally manipulating the presence of colonies of a native bumblebee species Bombus pauloensis in eight apple orchards in South Argentina, we evaluated the impact of losing natural populations of a key native pollinator group on (a) crop yield, (b) pollination quality, and (c) farmer's profit. To do so, we performed a factorial experiment of pollinator exclusion (yes/no) and hand pollination (yes/no). Our results showed that biotic pollination increased ripe... (More)
The alarming loss of pollinator diversity world-wide can reduce the productivity of pollinator-dependent crops, which could have economic impacts. However, it is unclear to what extent the loss of a key native pollinator species affects crop production and farmer's profits. By experimentally manipulating the presence of colonies of a native bumblebee species Bombus pauloensis in eight apple orchards in South Argentina, we evaluated the impact of losing natural populations of a key native pollinator group on (a) crop yield, (b) pollination quality, and (c) farmer's profit. To do so, we performed a factorial experiment of pollinator exclusion (yes/no) and hand pollination (yes/no). Our results showed that biotic pollination increased ripe fruit set by 13% when compared to non-biotic pollination. Additionally, fruit set and the number of fruits per apple tree was reduced by less than a half in those orchards where bumblebees were absent, even when honeybees were present at high densities. Consequently, farmer's profit was 2.4-fold lower in farms lacking bumblebees than in farms hosting both pollinator species. The pollination experiment further suggested that the benefits of bumblebees could be mediated by improved pollen quality rather than quantity. Synthesis and applications. This study highlights the pervasive consequences of losing key pollinator functional groups, such as bumblebees, for apple production and local economies. Adopting pollinator-friendly practices such as minimizing the use of synthetic inputs or restoring/maintaining semi-natural habitats at farm and landscape scales, will have the double advantage of promoting biodiversity conservation, and increasing crop productivity and profitability for local farmers. Yet because the implementation of these practices can take time to deliver results, the management of native pollinator species can be a provisional complementary strategy to increase economic profitability of apple growers in the short term.
(Less)
- author
- Pérez-Méndez, Néstor
; Andersson, Georg K.S.
LU
; Requier, Fabrice
; Hipólito, Juliana
; Aizen, Marcelo A.
; Morales, Carolina L.
; García, Nancy
; Gennari, Gerardo P.
and Garibaldi, Lucas A.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- apple, bumblebees, crop pollination, crop yield, honeybees, orchard, profitability, sustainable agriculture
- in
- Journal of Applied Ecology
- volume
- 57
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85078665584
- ISSN
- 0021-8901
- DOI
- 10.1111/1365-2664.13561
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d7f9ee5c-0ac6-4c18-9665-acaaf4878343
- date added to LUP
- 2020-02-10 13:34:07
- date last changed
- 2022-10-31 04:33:23
@article{d7f9ee5c-0ac6-4c18-9665-acaaf4878343,
abstract = {{<p>The alarming loss of pollinator diversity world-wide can reduce the productivity of pollinator-dependent crops, which could have economic impacts. However, it is unclear to what extent the loss of a key native pollinator species affects crop production and farmer's profits. By experimentally manipulating the presence of colonies of a native bumblebee species Bombus pauloensis in eight apple orchards in South Argentina, we evaluated the impact of losing natural populations of a key native pollinator group on (a) crop yield, (b) pollination quality, and (c) farmer's profit. To do so, we performed a factorial experiment of pollinator exclusion (yes/no) and hand pollination (yes/no). Our results showed that biotic pollination increased ripe fruit set by 13% when compared to non-biotic pollination. Additionally, fruit set and the number of fruits per apple tree was reduced by less than a half in those orchards where bumblebees were absent, even when honeybees were present at high densities. Consequently, farmer's profit was 2.4-fold lower in farms lacking bumblebees than in farms hosting both pollinator species. The pollination experiment further suggested that the benefits of bumblebees could be mediated by improved pollen quality rather than quantity. Synthesis and applications. This study highlights the pervasive consequences of losing key pollinator functional groups, such as bumblebees, for apple production and local economies. Adopting pollinator-friendly practices such as minimizing the use of synthetic inputs or restoring/maintaining semi-natural habitats at farm and landscape scales, will have the double advantage of promoting biodiversity conservation, and increasing crop productivity and profitability for local farmers. Yet because the implementation of these practices can take time to deliver results, the management of native pollinator species can be a provisional complementary strategy to increase economic profitability of apple growers in the short term.</p>}},
author = {{Pérez-Méndez, Néstor and Andersson, Georg K.S. and Requier, Fabrice and Hipólito, Juliana and Aizen, Marcelo A. and Morales, Carolina L. and García, Nancy and Gennari, Gerardo P. and Garibaldi, Lucas A.}},
issn = {{0021-8901}},
keywords = {{apple; bumblebees; crop pollination; crop yield; honeybees; orchard; profitability; sustainable agriculture}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{599--608}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Journal of Applied Ecology}},
title = {{The economic cost of losing native pollinator species for orchard production}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13561}},
doi = {{10.1111/1365-2664.13561}},
volume = {{57}},
year = {{2020}},
}