PollMap: a software for crop pollination mapping in agricultural landscapes

Background Ecosystem service mapping is an important tool for decision-making in landscape planning and natural resource management. Today, pollination service mapping is based on the Lonsdorf model (InVEST software) that determines the availability of nesting and floral resources for each land cover and estimates pollination according to the foraging range of the desired species. However, it is argued that the Lonsdorf model has significant limitations in estimating pollination in a landscape that can affect the results of this model. Results This paper presents a free software, named PollMap, that does not have the limitations of the Lonsdorf model. PollMap estimates the pollination service according to a modified version of the Lonsdorf model and assumes that only cells within the flight range of bees are important in the pollination mapping. This software is produced for estimating and mapping crop pollination in agricultural landscapes. The main assumption of this software is that in the agricultural landscapes, which are dominated by forest and agriculture ecosystems, forest patches serve only as a nesting habitat for wild bees and the surrounding fields provide floral resources. Conclusion The present study provided new software for mapping crop pollination in agricultural landscapes that does not have the limitations of the Lonsdorf model. We showed that the use of the Lonsdorf model for pollination mapping requires attention to the limitations of this model, and by removing these limitations, we will need new software to obtain a reliable mapping of pollination in agricultural landscapes.

Allee Effects Determine Pollinator Services at Local and Geographic Scales

Climatic factors have attracted much attention in the study of species’ distributions, while little is known about the role of biotic interactions. Here, we tested for variation in pollinator service across the distribution of a plant species, and evaluated the driving mechanisms. We monitored insect pollinators using time-lapse cameras in populations of North American Arabidopsis lyrata from the southern to the northern range limit. We spotted 67 pollinating insect taxa, indicating that this plant-pollinator network is a generalist system. Pollinator service increased with latitude. Higher pollinator visitation was correlated with the richness of other flowering plants and with plant census size, which was largest in northern populations. Furthermore, pollinator service reached a maximum at intermediate local flower density. Synthesis: This study indicates that pollination service underlies Allee effects on a local and species’ range scale, and that plant populations at range limits receive only marginal pollination service if they are small.

Honey-Guacamole: Assessment of pollination environmental service in avocado production in Michoacan, Mexico

The effects of the pollination service provided by the natural areas adjacent to avocado crop areas in Michoacan, Mexico, were estimated. The effect is estimated by measuring the change in avocado crop productivity as the abundance of pollinators coming from neighboring natural areas changes. Pollinators’ abundance is approximated through an index estimated with the InVEST system whose parameters were adapted for the region under study. The change in productivity is extended to an economic value to provide an economic estimate of the environmental service. The results show that, in an area where the abundance of domesticated and wild pollinators is close to the mean, the harvested volume of avocado is 28% (+/- 23%) greater. Moreover, they show that this effect is only present when both wild and domesticated pollinators are available. Finally, some model limitations and public policy implications are provided.