Pollination efficiency of wild bees and hoverflies provided to oilseed rape

By F. Jauker, B. Bondarenko, H. Becker, I. Steffan‐Dewenter. 2012

249 citations recorded by the source corpus.

1 Declining numbers in honeybees and various wild bee species pose a threat to global pollination services. The identification and quantification of the pollination service provided by different taxa within the pollinator guild is a prerequisite for the successful establishment of nature conservation and crop management regimes. 2 Wild bees and hoverflies are considered to be valuable pollinators in agricultural and natural systems. Although some information on pollination efficiency of individual pollinator species is available, comparative studies of both taxa at different densities are rare. In the present study, the efficiency of the solitary mason bee Osmia rufa and two hoverfly species (Eristalis tenax and Episyrphus balteatus) as pollinators of oilseed rape Brassica napus was examined in a standardized caged plant breeding regime. Honeybee Apis mellifera colonies were used as a reference pollinator taxon. 3 Yield parameters responded differently to pollinator density and identity. Fruit set and number of seeds per pod increased with increasing pollinator density, although these were stronger in the mason bee than the hoverfly treatment. Weight per 1000 seeds did not respond to any pollinator treatment, indicating that seed quality was not affected. Oilseed rape yield in the highest tested densities of both pollinator taxa resulted in yield values close to the efficiency of small honeybee colonies. 4 Hoverflies required approximately five‐fold densities of the red mason bees to reach a similar fruit set and yield. Thus, mason bees are more efficient in plant breeding and managed pollination systems. Both natural pollinator taxa, however, are of potential value in open and closed crop production systems.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Insect Science, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6110041f60c2bd8b63d4c47f67020fc519603c63

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In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

In Insect Science

In Plant Science

Citations in the corpus

Nectar accessibility determines fitness, flower choice and abundance of hoverflies that provide natural pest control (2016, unknown): “Hoverflies are also important as pollinators (Jauker et al. 2012).”
Larger pollinators deposit more pollen on stigmas across multiple plant species—A meta‐analysis (2020, background): “Currently hoverflies (Syrphidae) have received the greatest attention (Jauker et al., 2012; Rader et al., 2020), however the effectiveness of other fly groups as pollinators can be also important, for example, Calliphoridae species in carrot pollination (Howlett, 2012), or Anthomyiidae in…”
Crop management modifies the benefits of insect pollination in oilseed rape (2015, unknown): “is lacking (Jauker et al., 2012; Klein et al., 2015).”
Protecting an ecosystem service: approaches to understanding and mitigating threats to wild insect pollinators (2016, background): “…native and/or wild pollinators are more 294 efficient at pollinating certain plant species than honeybees (Figure 3; Garibaldi et al., 2014; 295 Jauker et al., 2012; Rader et al., 2013; Stanley et al., 2013; Thomson and Goodell, 2001; 296 Vicens and Bosch, 2000; Woodcock et al., 2013), and…”
Crop flower visitation by honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees: Behavioural differences and diversity responses to landscape (2013, background): “…rape is predominantly wind pollinated (Chifflet et al., 2011), the role of domesticated and wild insect pollinators in promoting pollination is potentially economically significant (Breeze et al., 2011; Chifflet et al., 2011; Bommarco et al., 2012; Jauker et al., 2012; Ollerton et al., 2012).”