INVESTIGADORES
AIZEN marcelo Adrian
artículos
Título:
The economic cost of losing native pollinator species for orchard production
Autor/es:
PÉREZ-MÉNDEZ, NÉSTOR; ANDERSSON, GEORG K. S.; REQUIER, FABRICE; HIPÓLITO, JULIANA; AIZEN, MARCELO A.; MORALES, CAROLINA L.; GARCÍA, NANCY; GENNARI, GERARDO P.; GARIBALDI, LUCAS A.
Revista:
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
Editorial:
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Referencias:
Año: 2020 vol. 57 p. 599 - 608
ISSN:
0021-8901
Resumen:
Abstract1. The alarming loss of pollinator diversity world-wide can reduce the productivityof pollinator-dependent crops, which could have economic impacts. However, itis unclear to what extent the loss of a key native pollinator species affects cropproduction and farmer´s profits.2. By experimentally manipulating the presence of colonies of a native bumblebeespecies Bombus pauloensis in eight apple orchards in South Argentina, we evaluatedthe impact of losing natural populations of a key native pollinator group on (a)crop yield, (b) pollination quality, and (c) farmer´s profit. To do so, we performed afactorial experiment of pollinator exclusion (yes/no) and hand pollination (yes/no).3. Our results showed that biotic pollination increased ripe fruit set by 13% whencompared to non-biotic pollination. Additionally, fruit set and the number of fruitsper apple tree was reduced by less than a half in those orchards where bumblebeeswere absent, even when honeybees were present at high densities. Consequently,farmer´s profit was 2.4-fold lower in farms lacking bumblebees than in farms hostingboth pollinator species. The pollination experiment further suggested that thebenefits of bumblebees could be mediated by improved pollen quality rather thanquantity.4. Synthesis and applications. This study highlights the pervasive consequences oflosing key pollinator functional groups, such as bumblebees, for apple productionand local economies. Adopting pollinator-friendly practices such as minimizing theuse of synthetic inputs or restoring/maintaining semi-natural habitats at farm andlandscape scales, will have the double advantage of promoting biodiversity conservation,and increasing crop productivity and profitability for local farmers. Yetbecause the implementation of these practices can take time to deliver results,management of native pollinator species can be a provisional complementarystrategy to increase economic profitability of apple growers in the short term.