Special Issue “Pollinator Diversity and Pollination in Agricultural Systems”

Animal-mediated pollination and the subsequent fertilization of plants is the most important eco-physiological process that occurs during the production of many fruit, vegetable, and nut crops [...]

Wild insect diversity increases inter-annual stability in global crop pollinator communities

While an increasing number of studies indicate that the range, diversity and abundance of many wild pollinators has declined, the global area of pollinator-dependent crops has significantly increased over the last few decades. Crop pollination studies to date have mainly focused on either identifying different guilds pollinating various crops, or on factors driving spatial changes and turnover observed in these communities. The mechanisms driving temporal stability for ecosystem functioning and services, however, remain poorly understood. Our study quantifies temporal variability observed in crop pollinators in 21 different crops across multiple years at a global scale. Using data from 43 studies from six continents, we show that (i) higher pollinator diversity confers greater inter-annual stability in pollinator communities, (ii) temporal variation observed in pollinator abundance is primarily driven by the three-most dominant species, and (iii) crops in tropical regions demonstrate higher inter-annual variability in pollinator species richness than crops in temperate regions. We highlight the importance of recognizing wild pollinator diversity in agricultural landscapes to stabilize pollinator persistence across years to protect both biodiversity and crop pollination services. Short-term agricultural management practices aimed at dominant species for stabilizing pollination services need to be considered alongside longer term conservation goals focussed on maintaining and facilitating biodiversity to confer ecological stability.

Quantifying habitat and landscape effects on composition and structure of plant-pollinator networks in the US Northern Great Plains

Community structure contributes to ecosystem persistence and stability. To understand the mechanisms underlying pollination and community stability of natural areas in a human influenced landscape, a better understanding of the interaction patterns between plants and pollinators in disturbed landscapes is needed. The Northern Great Plains still retain extensive tracts of remnant temperate grassland habitat within a matrix of varying land-uses. We used a network-based approach to quantify how temperate grassland attributes and landscape heterogeneity influence plant-pollinator community structure in natural habitats. We also quantified pollinator diversity and floral diversity to assess the functional role of temperate grassland attributes and the surrounding landscape on the composition of the plant-pollinator communities in natural habitats. We found that the amount of local nectar sugar and increased proportions of certain land-uses contribute to pollinator diversity that in turn influences the structure of interactions between plants and pollinators. Understanding the factors contributing to plant-pollinator network structure can guide management decisions to support resilient plant-pollinator communities and conserve the stability of pollination services.

Keanekaragaman Serangga Polinator Pada Tanaman Nanas (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) Di Desa Bincau

Pollinator insects is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. The purpose of this study was to determine the diversity of insects pollinators in the pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) plantation of Bincau Village, Martapura District, Banjar Regency, South Kalimantan. Sampling was done by purposive sampling using a yellow sticky trap. The customer observations are made in visual control. Observation starts at 07.00-18.00 WITA which is divided into 3 time periods, namely: 07.00-10.00 WITA, 11.00-14.00 WITA and 15.00-18.00 WITA. The data obtained were analyzed using the diversity index Shannon-Wiener (H'). The results showed that the total individual of pollinator insects in pineapple plantations was 517 individuals, consisting of 4 order and 8 family. The highest abundance of insects is dominated by the Formicidae Family, while the lowest abundance is the Syrpidae Family. Value insect pollinator diversity found among the sites that H' = 1.760 which indicates that the level of diversity of insect pollinators on plantations Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) in the Bincau Village, Martapura District, Banjar Region, South Kalimantan in the medium category. Keywords: Diversity, Pollinator Insects, Pineapple, Bincau District