Dataset Information

Spatiotemporal Variation in Pollination Deficits in an Insect-Pollinated Dioecious Crop.

ABSTRACT: Inadequate quantity and quality of pollen reaching the stigmas decreases the sexual reproductive output of plants, compromising yield. Still, the current extent of pollen limitation affecting yield (i.e., pollination deficits) is poorly quantified. This study is aimed at quantifying pollination deficits in kiwifruit orchards, a dioecious plant with a fruit caliber and market value largely dependent on pollination services. For that, we set up a pollination experiment and quantified services and yield provided by current pollination vectors, and under optimal pollination, over two years in a total of twenty-three orchards covering the kiwifruit production range in Portugal. We characterized nine fruit traits and used: (1) fruit weight to calculate pollination deficits and relate them with pollinator diversity and abundance, and environmental variables; and (2) production values, fruit caliber, and market values to calculate economic impact of pollination deficits. Results showed that pollination deficits were variable in time and space and were significantly and negatively correlated with pollinator abundance, while the opposite pattern was obtained for production, supporting the notion that a higher pollinator's abundance is related to lower pollination deficits and higher yields. Understanding the factors affecting pollination deficits is crucial to depict the need for nature-based solutions promoting pollinators and to resort to management practices assisting pollination.

SUBMITTER: Castro H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8309125 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Over one third of crops are animal pollinated, with insects being the largest group. In some crops, including strawberries, fruit yield, weight, quality, aesthetics and shelf life increase with insect pollination. Many crops are protected from extreme weather in polytunnels, but the impacts of polytunnels on insects are poorly understood. Polytunnels could reduce pollination services, especially if insects have access issues. Here we examine the distribution and activity of honeybees and non-honeybee wild insects on a commercial fruit farm. We evaluated whether insect distributions are impacted by flower type (strawberry; raspberry; weed), or distance from polytunnel edges. We compared passive pan-trapping and active quadrat observations to establish their suitability for monitoring insect distribution and behaviour on a farm. To understand the relative value of honeybees compared to other insects for strawberry pollination, the primary crop at the site, we enhanced our observations with video data analysed using insect tracking software to document the time spent by insects on flowers. The results show honeybees strongly prefer raspberry and weed flowers over strawberry flowers and that location within the polytunnel impacts insect distributions. Consistent with recent studies, we also show that pan-traps are ineffective to sample honeybee numbers. While the pan-traps and quadrat observations tend to suggest that investment in managed honeybees for strawberry pollination might be ineffective due to consistent low numbers within the crop, the camera data provides contrary evidence. Although honeybees were relatively scarce among strawberry crops, camera data shows they spent more time visiting flowers than other insects. Our results demonstrate that a commercial fruit farm is a complex ecosystem influencing pollinator diversity and abundance through a range of factors. We show that monitoring methods may differ in their valuation of relative contributions of insects to crop pollination.

Dataset Information

Spatiotemporal Variation in Pollination Deficits in an Insect-Pollinated Dioecious Crop.

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