The potential for insect pollinators to alleviate global pollination deficits and enhance yield of fruit and seed crops

GARIBALDI, L.A., S.A. CUNNINGHAM, M.A. AIZEN, L. PACKER, Y L.D. HARDER

The pollination of plants: A compendium for practitioners

FAO

Lugar: Roma; Año: 2018;

Land-use changed at an unprecedented rate during the past century. Agricultural lands, pastures, treeplantations, and urban areas have expanded concomitantly with increases in the consumption ofagricultural products, energy, water, and chemical inputs 1. Those changes have caused widespreadenvironmental degradation and major biodiversity loss, affecting the ecosystem services on whichhuman persistence depends 1, including crop pollination by wild insects 2,3. In this chapter, weprovide a general framework to understand the contribution of animal pollination to crop yield. Wefurther describe global patterns of pollinator abundance and diversity, pollinator dependence,pollination deficits, and the pollination efficiency of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and wild insects.We conclude with recommendations for improved agricultural sustainability from the enhancementof pollinator biodiversity, pollination services, and crop yield.