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Title
Non-bee insects are important contributors to global crop pollination
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008:
Author(s)
Bartomeus, Ignasi
Bommarco, Riccardo
Brittain, Claire
Carvalheiro, Luisa G
Chacoff, Natacha P
Entling, Martin H
Foully, Benjamin
Freitas, Breno M
Gemmill-Herren, Barbara
Ghazoul, Jaboury
Griffin, Sean R
Garibaldi, Lucas A
Herbertsson, Lina
Herzog, Felix
Hipolito, Juliana
Jauker, Frank
Klein, Alexandra-Maria
Kleijn, David
Krishnan, Smitha
Lemos, Camila Q
Garratt, Michael P D
Lindstrom, Sandra A M
Mandelik, Yael
Monteiro, Victor M
Nelson, Warrick
Nilsson, Lovisa
Pattemore, David E
de O Pereira, Natalia
Pisanty, Gideon
Potts, Simon G
Reemer, Menno
Howlett, Brad G
Rundlof, Maj
Sheffield, Cory S
Scheper, Jeroen
Schuepp, Christof
Smith, Henrik G
Stanley, Dara A
Stout, Jane C
Szentgyorgyi, Hajnalka
Taki, Hisatomo
Vergara, Carlos H
Winfree, Rachael
Viana, Blandina F
Woyciechowski, Michal
Cunningham, Saul A
Mayfield, Margaret M
Arthur, Anthony D
Andersson, Georg K S
Publication Date
2016
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008
Open Access
Yes
Abstract
Wild and managed bees are well documented as effective pollinators of global crops of economic importance. However, the contributions by pollinators other than bees have been little explored despite their potential to contribute to crop production and stability in the face of environmental change. Non-bee pollinators include flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, wasps, ants, birds, and bats, among others. Here we focus on non-bee insects and synthesize 39 field studies from five continents that directly measured the crop pollination services provided by non-bees, honey bees, and other bees to compare the relative contributions of these taxa. Non-bees performed 25-50% of the total number of flower visits. Although non-bees were less effective pollinators than bees per flower visit, they made more visits; thus these two factors compensated for each other, resulting in pollination services rendered by non-bees that were similar to those provided by bees. In the subset of studies that measured fruit set, fruit set increased with non-bee insect visits independently of bee visitation rates, indicating that non-bee insects provide a unique benefit that is not provided by bees. We also show that non-bee insects are not as reliant as bees on the presence of remnant natural or seminatural habitat in the surrounding landscape. These results strongly suggest that non-bee insect pollinators play a significant role in global crop production and respond differently than bees to landscape structure, probably making their crop pollination services more robust to changes in land use. Non-bee insects provide a valuable service and provide potential insurance against bee population declines.
Publication Type
Journal Article
Source of Publication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(1), p. 146-151
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Place of Publication
United States of America
ISSN
1091-6490
0027-8424
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020
Peer Reviewed
Yes
HERDC Category Description
Peer Reviewed
Yes
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