Rapid assessment of insect pollination services to inform decision-making.

Pollinator declines have prompted efforts to assess how land-use change affects insect pollinators and pollination services in agricultural landscapes. Yet many tools to measure insect pollination services require substantial landscape-scale data and technical expertise. In expert workshops, 3 straightforward methods (desk-based method, field survey, and empirical manipulation with exclusion experiments) for rapid insect pollination assessment at site scale were developed to provide an adaptable framework that is accessible to nonspecialist with limited resources. These methods were designed for TESSA (Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment) and allow comparative assessment of pollination services at a site of conservation interest and in its most plausible alternative state (e.g., converted to agricultural land). We applied the methods at a nature reserve in the United Kingdom to estimate the value of insect pollination services provided by the reserve. The economic value of pollination services provided by the reserve ranged from US$6163 to US$11,546/year. The conversion of the reserve to arable land would provide no insect pollination services and a net annual benefit from insect-pollinated crop production of approximately $1542/year (US$24∙ha-1 ∙year-1 ). The methods had wide applicability and were readily adapted to different insect-pollinated crops: rape (Brassica napus) and beans (Vicia faba) crops. All methods were rapidly employed under a low budget. The relatively less robust methods that required fewer resources yielded higher estimates of annual insect pollination benefit

Pollinator-flower interactions in gardens during the covid 19 pandemic lockdown of 2020

During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 460 genera and 96 plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restriction being that they cite this paper in the first instance. The data generated from these global surveys will provide scientific evidence to help us understand the role that private gardens (in urban, rural and suburban areas) can play in conserving insect pollinators and identify management actions to enhance their potential

Estimating consequences of losing pollination services: an evaluation of the pollinator dependency of plants

Exponential population growth and the increased demand of land for food production present the challenge to secure enough food for everyone whilst preserving natural landscapes and biodiversity. The targets of biodiversity conservation and food production have been historically perceived as conflicting, yet the productivity of many crops is maximised by pollinator abundance and diversity. The Ecosystem Service approach addressed this dichotomy by putting emphasis on the benefits that humans obtain from conserving biodiversity. An example is ensuring a diverse food supply by maintaining diverse pollinator communities. Pollinators are intimately connected to our welfare, securing a variety of food and maintaining ecosystem function and health. Consequently, the ongoing global decline of wild pollinators prompted a growing body of research on the extent to which reproductive success of plants is enhanced by flower-visiting animals and how land-use change affects wild pollinators. The overarching aim of this thesis is to understand how losing pollination services can affect human well-being. The objectives of my research are: (1) to elucidate pollinator contribution to wild and crop plants; (2) to develop practical methods for pollination services site-scale assessment; and (3) to pilot the novel tools developed in this thesis in a nature reserve within an agricultural matrix. Little is known about the potential consequences of losing vertebrate pollinators on plants. I used a systematic review protocol to give an overview of the importance of vertebrate pollinators for the reproductive success of the plants they pollinate. Based on a meta-analysis of 126 experiments on animal-pollinated plants, I found that an exclusion of vertebrates from plants visited by both insects and vertebrate pollinators may reduce fruit and seed production by 63%. Model selection based on Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) further revealed that tropical plants are more reliant on vertebrate pollination than their temperate counterparts, and bat-pollinated plants are more dependent on vertebrate pollination than those pollinated by other vertebrates. These findings highlight the potential importance of vertebrate pollinators for the long-term maintenance of both natural and agricultural tropical systems. This study also demonstrated the need for effective conservation action for threatened flower-visiting vertebrate species. More research is needed on the pollination system of plants and their vertebrate pollinators at a community level. Information on the production dependence of plants on their vertebrate pollinators is scant. Here, I created a dataset of the degrees of production dependence of wild and crop plants on vertebrate pollination based on field exclusion experiments. The database includes information on 126 sites for 29 countries and 90 plants species and information on site details, plants and flower visitors. The production dependence in this dataset can be used for economic valuations of pollination services provided by vertebrates to increase understanding of their importance for food production and the maintenance of natural ecosystems, particularly in the tropics, and to better guide conservation actions. Currently available tools for pollination service assessment operate at a global or regional scale or rely on high technical expertise. I used expert elicitation techniques to develop a practical tool for the site-scale assessment of pollination services. Three sets of methods were developed to suit different levels of technical expertise and resource availability: desk-based (Red standard method), observational (Amber standard method) and experimental (Green standard method). The novel tool was applied to estimate the value of pollination services provided by a small protected area in Hampshire, UK. The annual net economic value of pollination service in the current state was greater than the alternative state by between £111 and £151 ha-1 year-1.This thesis adds novel insight into the potential effects of the decline of pollinator taxa in different regions by assessing variations in the reproductive success of wild and crop plants at a global and local scale; thus increasing the much-needed knowledge of the dependence of flowering plants on flower-visiting animals, both invertebrates and vertebrates. The methods developed in this thesis can be useful to a broad range of users including scientists, governments, land managers and conservation practitioners. The accessibility of this tool provides rapid and practical means to generate robust data to inform decision-making in various regions, ecosystems and socio-cultural contexts

Plant Production Dependence Dataset

This dataset supports the thesis entitled &quot;Estimating consequences of losing pollination services: an evaluation of the pollinator dependency of plants&quot; Dataset for degree of production dependence of wild and crop plants on vertebrate pollination based on field exclusion experiments. The database includes information on 126 sites for 29 countries and 90 plants species. There are 126 entries with information in 16 columns within the dataset. Each entry represents an exclusion experiment on one plant species, where the seed or fruit production is compared between plants excluded from vertebrate pollination by mean of bagging or caging and those of unmanipulated plants (open pollination). </span

Biological control interventions and botanical pesticides for insect pests of crops in sub-Saharan Africa: A Mapping Review

Agricultural productivity can be increased sustainably in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by reducing crop losses due to insect pest damage. As an alternative to environmentally-damaging chemical pesticides, biological control interventions and botanical pesticides show potential to achieve both high yields and profits. However, synthesized information of their performance and understanding of their adoption among smallholder farmers is limited. Here, 173 studies of biological control interventions and botanical pesticides of insect pests for 35 crops from 20 sub-Saharan countries from 2005 to 2021 were systematically reviewed. Drawing on published datasets, we found that cereals, particularly maize, were the most studied crop (59%). Research on botanical pesticides constituted 32% of the studies, followed by augmentation/introduction biocontrol (29%), and push-pull (21%). Studies evaluating the technical performance of biocontrol interventions dominated (73%), with a regional clustering of push-pull studies in Kenya. Few studies investigated each intervention on each crop type, across different farming contexts and scales, highlighting an urgent need for landscape-scale studies to elucidate land-use impacts on biocontrol effectiveness. Limited evidence also exists on the synergistic effects of biocontrol on multiple ecosystem services and on non-target/beneficial organisms. We found an absence of interdisciplinary studies that addressed the wider indirect benefits of not using chemical pesticides, the social-economic outcomes, and barriers to adoption by farmers, which we argue are necessary to identify pathways to greater adoption and to support policy advocacy of biocontrol interventions in SSA

Biological control interventions and botanical pesticides for insect pests of crops in sub-Saharan Africa:A mapping review

Agricultural productivity can be increased sustainably in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by reducing crop losses due to insect pest damage. As an alternative to environmentally-damaging chemical pesticides, biological control interventions and botanical pesticides show potential to achieve both high yields and profits. However, synthesized information of their performance and understanding of their adoption among smallholder farmers is limited. Here, 173 studies of biological control interventions and botanical pesticides of insect pests for 35 crops from 20 sub-Saharan countries from 2005 to 2021 were systematically reviewed. Drawing on published datasets, we found that cereals, particularly maize, were the most studied crop (59%). Research on botanical pesticides constituted 32% of the studies, followed by augmentation/introduction biocontrol (29%), and push-pull (21%). Studies evaluating the technical performance of biocontrol interventions dominated (73%), with a regional clustering of push-pull studies in Kenya. Few studies investigated each intervention on each crop type, across different farming contexts and scales, highlighting an urgent need for landscape-scale studies to elucidate land-use impacts on biocontrol effectiveness. Limited evidence also exists on the synergistic effects of biocontrol on multiple ecosystem services and on non-target/beneficial organisms. We found an absence of interdisciplinary studies that addressed the wider indirect benefits of not using chemical pesticides, the social-economic outcomes, and barriers to adoption by farmers, which we argue are necessary to identify pathways to greater adoption and to support policy advocacy of biocontrol interventions in SSA

Biological control interventions reduce pest abundance and crop damage while maintaining natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa:a meta-analysis

Insect pests are a major challenge to smallholder crop production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where access to synthetic pesticides, which are linked to environmental and health risks, is often limited. Biological control interventions could offer a sustainable solution, yet an understanding of their effectiveness is lacking. We used a meta-analysis approach to investigate the effectiveness of commonly used biocontrol interventions and botanical pesticides on pest abundance (PA), crop damage (CD), crop yield (Y) and natural enemy abundance (NEA) when compared with controls with no biocontrol and with synthetic pesticides. We also evaluated whether the magnitude of biocontrol effectiveness was affected by type of biocontrol intervention, crop type, pest taxon, farm type and landscape configuration. Overall, from 99 studies on 31 crops, we found that compared to no biocontrol, biocontrol interventions reduced PA by 63%, CD by over 50% and increased Y by over 60%. Compared to synthetic pesticides, biocontrol resulted in comparable PA and Y, while NEA was 43% greater. Our results also highlighted that the potential for biocontrol to be modulated by landscape configuration is a critical knowledge gap in SSA. We show that biocontrol represents an effective tool for smallholder farmers, which can maintain yields without associated negative pesticide effects. Furthermore, the evidence presented here advocates strongly for including biocontrol practices in national and regional agricultural policies

Supplementary_Material from Biological control interventions reduce pest abundance and crop damage while maintaining natural enemies in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis

Literature search string;ROSES diagram; list of grey literature and electronic databases; articles included in meta-analysis;Fullen plots; Egger's test;Fail Safe numbers; Influential case diagnostic

Pollinator-flower interactions in gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of 2020

During the main COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown period of 2020 an impromptu set of pollination ecologists came together via social media and personal contacts to carry out standardised surveys of the flower visits and plants in gardens. The surveys involved 67 rural, suburban and urban gardens, of various sizes, ranging from 61.18° North in Norway to 37.96° South in Australia, resulting in a data set of 25,174 rows, with each row being a unique interaction record for that date/site/plant species, and comprising almost 47,000 visits to flowers, as well as records of flowers that were not visited by pollinators, for over 1,000 species and varieties belonging to more than 460 genera and 96 plant families. The more than 650 species of flower visitors belong to 12 orders of invertebrates and four of vertebrates. In this first publication from the project, we present a brief description of the data and make it freely available for any researchers to use in the future, the only restriction being that they cite this paper in the first instance. The data generated from these global surveys will provide scientific evidence to help us understand the role that private gardens (in urban, rural and suburban areas) can play in conserving insect pollinators and identify management actions to enhance their potential