Stability of pollination services decreases with isolation from natural areas despite honey bee visits

Garibaldi, L.A. et al. (2011) Stability of pollination services decreases with isolation from natural areas despite honey bee visits. Ecology Letters, 14(10), pp. 1062-1072. (doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01669.x) (PMID:21806746)

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural landscapes by definition provide high magnitude and stability of ecosystem services, biodiversity and crop productivity. However, few studies have considered landscape effects on the stability of ecosystem services. We tested whether isolation from florally diverse natural and semi-natural areas reduces the spatial and temporal stability of flower-visitor richness and pollination services in crop fields. We synthesised data from 29 studies with contrasting biomes, crop species and pollinator communities. Stability of flower-visitor richness, visitation rate (all insects except honey bees) and fruit set all decreased with distance from natural areas. At 1 km from adjacent natural areas, spatial stability decreased by 25, 16 and 9% for richness, visitation and fruit set, respectively, while temporal stability decreased by 39% for richness and 13% for visitation. Mean richness, visitation and fruit set also decreased with isolation, by 34, 27 and 16% at 1 km respectively. In contrast, honey bee visitation did not change with isolation and represented > 25% of crop visits in 21 studies. Therefore, wild pollinators are relevant for crop productivity and stability even when honey bees are abundant. Policies to preserve and restore natural areas in agricultural landscapes should enhance levels and reliability of pollination services.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: LAG was supported by the German Academic Exchange Programme(DAAD) and AMK by the German Science Foundation (KL 1849⁄4-1). This work is part of the working group Restoring Pollination Services led by CK and NM Williams at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS NSF grant no. DEB-00-72909). The study is part of the STEP- (Status and Trends of European Pollinators, grant no. 244090 – STEP – CP – FP) and ALARM-projects (Assessing Large scale Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods, grant no. GOCE-CT-2003-506675) funded by the European Commission in the 6th and 7th Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Morales, Professor Juan
• Authors: Garibaldi, L.A., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Kremen, C., Morales, J.M., Bommarco, R., Cunningham, S.A., Carvalheiro, L.G., Chacoff, N.P., Dudenhöffer, J.H., Greenleaf, S.S., Holzschuh, A., Isaacs, R., Krewenka, K., Mandelik, Y., Mayfield, M.M., Morandin, L.A., Potts, S.G., Ricketts, T.H., Szentgyörgyi, H., Viana, B.F., Westphal, C., Winfree, R., and Klein, A.M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Ecology Letters
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1461-023X
• ISSN (Online): 1461-0248

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