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Research article2019Peer reviewedOpen access

Meta-analysis reveals that pollinator functional diversity and abundance enhance crop pollination and yield

Woodcock, B. A.; Garratt, M. P. D.; Powney, G. D.; Shaw, R. F.; Osborne, J. L.; Soroka, J.; Lindstrom, S. A. M.; Stanley, D.; Ouvrard, P.; Edwards, M. E.; Jauker, F.; McCracken, M. E.; Zou, Y.; Potts, S. G.; Rundlof, M.; Noriega, J. A.; Greenop, A.; Smith, H. G.; Bommarco, R.; van der Werf, W.;
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Abstract

How insects promote crop pollination remains poorly understood in terms of the contribution of functional trait differences between species. We used meta-analyses to test for correlations between community abundance, species richness and functional trait metrics with oilseed rape yield, a globally important crop. While overall abundance is consistently important in predicting yield, functional divergence between species traits also showed a positive correlation. This result supports the complementarity hypothesis that pollination function is maintained by non-overlapping trait distributions. In artificially constructed communities (mesocosms), species richness is positively correlated with yield, although this effect is not seen under field conditions. As traits of the dominant species do not predict yield above that attributed to the effect of abundance alone, we find no evidence in support of the mass ratio hypothesis. Management practices increasing not just pollinator abundance, but also functional divergence, could benefit oilseed rape agriculture.

Published in

Nature Communications
2019, Volume: 10, article number: 1481
Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

      SLU Authors

    • Lindström, Sandra

      • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
      • Lund University
      • The Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies

      • UKÄ Subject classification

      Ecology

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09393-6

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/99652