Wild pollination services to California almond rely on semi-natural habitat

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschung

Authors

1.Global declines in honeybees have led to concerns about negative impacts on food production because of low levels of pollination. This is exemplified in California where the demand for honeybees Apis mellifera to pollinate almond Prunus dulcis is increasing, but problems with honeybee health suggest it may not be sustainable to rely solely on the pollination service of a single species. 2.We investigated the effect of the quantity of surrounding natural habitat, organic management and strips of semi-natural vegetation on flower visitation frequency of wild and managed pollinators and fruit set in 23 California almond orchards (15 conventional, 8 organic). Five conventional and four organic orchards were surrounded by a low percentage (<5%) of natural or semi-natural habitat in a 1-km radius and another five conventional and four organic orchards were surrounded by a high percentage of these habitats (>30%). A further five conventional orchards with a low percentage of surrounding natural habitat had an adjacent strip of semi-natural vegetation and were included in the study to represent a realistic option for orchard management in intensive agricultural landscapes. 3.Wild bee species visited almond flowers but only in orchards with adjacent semi-natural habitat or vegetation strips. Organic management increased the flower visitation frequencies of hover flies and wild bees. The presence of a strip of semi-natural vegetation in orchards with a low percentage of surrounding natural habitat increased the number of species and the flower visitation frequency by wild pollinators but only at orchard edges and not to the degree seen when natural habitat was abundant. 4.Wild bee species richness and flower visitation frequency, but not honeybee frequency, were related to fruit set. Fruit set increased with increasing percentage of natural habitat surrounding the orchards. Organic farming or the presence of a vegetation strip did not increase fruit set. 5.Synthesis and applications. The restoration of high quality habitat strips along the edges of crop fields in highly intensified agricultural landscapes should be encouraged and monitored to conserve pollinators and to determine whether benefits for agriculture can be realized. Although honeybees are the main and most important pollinating insects for many plants, wild pollinators may be necessary to ensure high fruit set. Organic farming alone will not sustain wild pollination services for almond in California.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftJournal of Applied Ecology
Jahrgang49
Ausgabenummer3
Seiten (von - bis)723-732
Anzahl der Seiten10
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 06.2012

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. An Empirical Note on Religiosity and Social Trust using German Survey Data
  2. Gender-Aspekte bei der Einführung und Akkreditierung gestufter Studiengänge
  3. Evaluierung des Innovationsgeschehens von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen
  4. Bottom-up creation of allele frequency differentiation in Carabus auronitens
  5. Effects of Sn segregation and precipitates on creep response of Mg-Sn alloys
  6. Stützpunkte als Kern des Größenverständnisses und Grundlage des Schätzens
  7. Leadership for Learning in Germany and the US: Commonalities and Differences
  8. Meeresströmungen, Google-Matrix und Netzwerke: Analyse von Transportprozessen
  9. Anthropologie und Kritik. Kant, Foucault und die philosophische Anthropologie
  10. Technikfolgenabschätzung und ihre Bedeutung für künftige Hightech-Strategien
  11. Das Lächeln nicht verlieren! Stuart Hall als sozialistischer Intellektueller
  12. Postoperaismus – Immaterielle Arbeit und die Transformation der Gesellschaft
  13. Influence of the pandemic dissemination of COVID-19 on radiotherapy practice
  14. Influences of SiC Particle Additions on the Grain Refinement of Mg–Zn Alloys
  15. Faunal response to revegetation in agricultural areas of Australia: A review
  16. Das lyrische Ich mag keinen Brokkoli: komische Kinderlyrik von Michael Rosen
  17. Jahrbuch für konstruktivistische Religionsdidaktik – Wer braucht es und wozu?
  18. Identification of an immunodominant H-2Db-restricted CTL epitope of human PSA
  19. Leben nach Wahl? Zur medialen Inszenierung von Lebensführung und Anerkennung
  20. Forschungsansätze im Themenfeld Geschlechterverhältnisse und Nachhaltigkeit
  21. The Relationship between the Environmental and Economic Performance of Firms
  22. Ablehnungskulturen als Akzeptabilitätsbedingungen des autoritären Populismus