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.

Fil: Senapathi, Deepa. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Fründ, Jochen. Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg; Alemania

Fil: Albrecht, Matthias. No especifíca;

Fil: Garratt, Michael. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Kleijn, David. University of Agriculture Wageningen; Países Bajos

Fil: Pickles, Brian J.. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Potts, Simon G.. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: An, Jiandong. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; China

Fil: Andersson, Karl Georg Sixten. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural. - Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; Argentina

Fil: Bänsch, Svenja. University of Göttingen; Alemania

Fil: Basu, Parthiba. University of Calcutta; India

Fil: Benjamin, Faye. State University of New Jersey; Estados Unidos

Fil: Bezerra, Antonio Diego M.. Universidade Federal do Ceara; Brasil

Fil: Bhattacharya, Ritam. University of Calcutta; India

Fil: Biesmeijer, Jacobus C.. No especifíca;

Fil: Blaauw, Brett. Georgia State University; Estados Unidos

Fil: Blitzer, Eleanor J.. Carroll College; Estados Unidos

Fil: Brittain, Claire A.. Jealott's Hill International Research Centre; Reino Unido

Fil: Carvalheiro, Luísa G.. Universidade Federal de Goiás; Brasil

Fil: Cariveau, Daniel P.. University of Minnesota; Estados Unidos

Fil: Chakraborty, Pushan. University of Calcutta; India

Fil: Chatterjee, Arnob. University of Calcutta; India

Fil: Chatterjee, Soumik. University of Calcutta; India

Fil: Cusser, Sarah. Michigan State University; Estados Unidos

Fil: Danforth, Bryan N.. Cornell University; Estados Unidos

Fil: Degani, Erika. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Freitas, Breno M.. Universidade Federal do Ceara; Brasil

Fil: Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural. - Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural; Argentina

Fil: Geslin, Benoit. No especifíca;

Fil: de Groot, G. Arjen. University of Agriculture Wageningen; Países Bajos

Fil: Harrison, Tina. University of California at Davis; Estados Unidos

Fil: Howlett, Brad. The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food; Nueva Zelanda

Fil: Isaacs, Rufus. Michigan State University; Estados Unidos

Fil: Jha, Shalene. Austin Community College; Estados Unidos

Fil: Klatt, Björn Kristian. University of Göttingen; Alemania

Fil: Krewenka, Kristin. Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg; Alemania

Fil: Leigh, Samuel. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Lindström, Sandra A. M.. No especifíca;

Fil: Mandelik, Yael. No especifíca;

Fil: McKerchar, Megan. Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Estados Unidos

Fil: Park, Mia. No especifíca;

Fil: Pisanty, Gideon. No especifíca;

Fil: Rader, Romina. No especifíca;

Fil: Reemer, Menno. Naturalis Biodiversity Centre; Países Bajos

Fil: Rundlöf, Maj. Lund University; Suecia

Fil: Smith, Barbara. University of Calcutta; India

Fil: Smith, Henrik G.. Lund University; Suecia

Fil: Nunes Silva, Patricia. Universidad de Vale do Rio dos Sinos; Brasil

Fil: Steffan Dewenter, Ingolf. No especifíca;

Fil: Teja, Tscharntke. University of Göttingen; Alemania

Fil: Webber, Sean. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Westbury, Duncan B.. Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Estados Unidos

Fil: Westphal, Catrin. No especifíca;

Fil: Wickens, Jennifer B.. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Wickens, Victoria J.. University of Reading; Reino Unido

Fil: Winfree, Rachael. No especifíca;

Fil: Zhang, Hong. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; China

Fil: Klein, Alexandra Maria. Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg; Alemania