IMBIV   05474
INSTITUTO MULTIDISCIPLINARIO DE BIOLOGIA VEGETAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Pollinator dependence of Argentinian agriculture: current status and temporal analysis
Autor/es:
CHACOFF, N.P.; MORALES, C.; GARIBALDI, L. A. ; ASHWORTH, L.; AIZEN, M. A
Revista:
Americas Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology
Editorial:
Global Science Books
Referencias:
Año: 2010 vol. 3 p. 106 - 116
ISSN:
1752-3877
Resumen:
A
sizable proportion of agricultural production depends directly or
indirectly on animal pollination but estimation of the size of this
dependence is missing for most countries, even for some of the most
important food producers. Here, we evaluate the current status and
temporal trends (1961-2007) in pollinator dependency of Argentinean
agriculture. We classified crops in categories according to their
pollinator dependence, and estimated their harvested area, production,
economic and nutritional values. We also estimated the expected
production deficit in the absence of pollinators, the extra area needed
to cope with this deficit, and trends in honeybee stocks. From a total
of 68 crops, animal pollination increased directly production in 37 and
indirectly in 13. More than half of the harvested area and total
agricultural production corresponded to pollinator dependent crops, a
trend highly influenced by the inclusion of soybean as a modestly
dependent crop. Highly pollinator-dependent crops produced 2-4 times
more income per hectare than any other crop, and modestly dependent
crops bear on average the highest protein and fat content. During the
study period the production deficit increased three-fold, reaching 12%
in 2007, whereas the area needed to compensate for these deficiencies
attained 24%. Regarding pollination services, indicators are mixed;
whereas Argentinean honey-bee stock triplicates from 1961 to 2007,
native forest area, a source of pollinator diversity, shrank to more
than half since 1940s. Experiments testing the degree of pollinator
dependency on the quality and quantity of crop production for soybean
varieties cultivated in Argentina are urgently needed. Our estimations
depict an agriculture that is becoming more dependent on pollinators,
but native forests and other native terrestrial habitats, which host
most of the countrys pollinator diversity, are decreasing at an
alarming rate.