Pollination deficits and contributions of pollinators in apple production: A global meta‐analysis

作者：Aruhan Olhnuud, Yunhui Liu, David Makowski, Teja Tscharntke, Catrin Westphal, Panlong Wu, Meina Wang, Wopke van der Werf · 发表于：Journal of Applied Ecology · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2664.14279 · 被引用次数：56 · 研究领域：Plant and animal studies、Insect-Plant Interactions and Control、Horticultural and Viticultural Research

Abstract Apple is one of the most widely cultivated fruit crops world‐wide, and apple yield benefits from pollination by insects. The global decline in wild pollinator populations raises concern about the adequacy of pollination services in apple production. Here, we present a global meta‐analysis of pollination in apple. We assembled from the literature a dataset comprising results of 48 studies across five continents on fruit set and seed set in apple with insect pollination, artificial pollination and pollinator exclusion, and analysed the effects of explanatory factors such as variety and continent. Fruit set was on average 41% lower with open pollination than with artificial pollination, while seed set was 20% lower. These pollination deficits varied across continents and cultivars. Pollination deficits for fruit set were greatest in Asia (63%) followed by Europe (30%), whereas pollination deficits for seed set were greatest in Asia (47%) and South America (40%). Important differences in pollination deficit were also identified between cultivars but these differences were confounded with continent effects. Fruit set and seed set were 71% and 62% higher, respectively, when insects had open access to flowers than when they were artificially excluded, while results varied among cultivars. Synthesis and applications. Globally, there are substantial contributions of pollinators to fruit set and seed set in apple, as well as considerable limitations in apple pollination servic...