Contribution of insect pollinators to crop yield and quality varies with agricultural intensification

作者：Ígnasi Bartomeus, Simon Geoffrey Potts, Ingolf Steffan‐Dewenter, Bernard E Vaissiere, Michał Woyciechowski, Kristin M. Krewenka, Thomas Tscheulin, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Hajnalka Szentgyörgyi, Catrin Westphal, Riccardo Bommarco · 发表于：PeerJ · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.7717/peerj.328 · 被引用次数：302 · 研究领域：Plant and animal studies、Insect and Pesticide Research、Plant Parasitism and Resistance

Background. Up to 75% of crop species benefit at least to some degree from animal pollination for fruit or seed set and yield. However, basic information on the level of pollinator dependence and pollinator contribution to yield is lacking for many crops. Even less is known about how insect pollination affects crop quality. Given that habitat loss and agricultural intensification are known to decrease pollinator richness and abundance, there is a need to assess the consequences for different components of crop production. Methods. We used pollination exclusion on flowers or inflorescences on a whole plant basis to assess the contribution of insect pollination to crop yield and quality in four flowering crops (spring oilseed rape, field bean, strawberry, and buckwheat) located in four regions of Europe. For each crop, we recorded abundance and species richness of flower visiting insects in ten fields located along a gradient from simple to heterogeneous landscapes. Results. Insect pollination enhanced average crop yield between 18 and 71% depending on the crop. Yield quality was also enhanced in most crops. For instance, oilseed rape had higher oil and lower chlorophyll contents when adequately pollinated, the proportion of empty seeds decreased in buckwheat, and strawberries' commercial grade improved; however, we did not find higher nitrogen content in open pollinated field beans. Complex landscapes had a higher overall species richness of wild pollinators across crops, but ...