Proximity to forest edge does not affect crop production despite pollen limitation
- 29 January 2008
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 275 (1637), 907-913
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1547
Abstract
A decline in pollination function has been linked to agriculture expansion and intensification. In northwest Argentina, pollinator visits to grapefruit, a self-compatible but pollinator-dependent crop, decline by approximately 50% at 1km from forest edges. We evaluated whether this decrease in visitation also reduces the pollination service in this crop. We analysed the quantity and quality of pollen deposited on stigmas, and associated limitation of fruit production at increasing distances (edge: 10, 100, 500 and 1000m) from the remnants of Yungas forest. We also examined the quantitative and qualitative efficiency of honeybees as pollen vectors. Pollen receipt and pollen tubes in styles decreased with increasing distance from forest edge; however, this decline did not affect fruit production. Supplementation of natural pollen with self- and cross-pollen revealed that both pollen quantity and quality limited fruit production. Despite pollen limitation, honeybees cannot raise fruit production because they often do not deposit sufficient high-quality pollen per visit to elicit fruit development. However, declines in visitation frequency well below seven visits during a flower's lifespan could decrease production beyond current yields. In this context, the preservation of forest remnants, which act as pollinator sources, could contribute to resilience in crop production. Like wild plants, pollen limitation of the yield among animal-pollinated crops may be common and indicative not only of pollinator scarcity, but also of poor pollination quality, whereby pollinator efficiency, rather than just abundance, can play a broader role than previously appreciated.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Pollination Requirements of Pigmented Grapefruit (Citrus paradisiMacf.) from Northwestern ArgentinaCrop Science, 2007
- EXPANDING THE LIMITS OF THE POLLEN-LIMITATION CONCEPT: EFFECTS OF POLLEN QUANTITY AND QUALITYEcology, 2007
- Proximity to rainforest enhances pollination and fruit set in orchardsJournal of Applied Ecology, 2006
- Fruit production in cranberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium macrocarpon): a bet‐hedging strategy to optimize reproductive effortAmerican Journal of Botany, 2006
- Edge effects on flower‐visiting insects in grapefruit plantations bordering premontane subtropical forestJournal of Applied Ecology, 2005
- Comparison of Pollen Transfer Dynamics by Multiple Floral Visitors: Experiments with Pollen and Fluorescent DyeAnnals of Botany, 2005
- Dose‐response relationships between pollination and fruiting refine pollinator comparisons for cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon [Ericaceae])American Journal of Botany, 2003
- The Potential Consequences of Pollinator Declines on the Conservation of Biodiversity and Stability of Food Crop YieldsConservation Biology, 1998
- Regulation of seed number and female incitation of mate competition by a pH-dependent proteinaceous inhibitor of pollen grain germination in Leucaena leucocephalaOecologia, 1988
- Pollinator Limitation of Plant Reproductive EffortThe American Naturalist, 1981