ReviewPollination contribution to crop yield is often context-dependent: A review of experimental evidence
Section snippets
Introduction: pollination benefits in agriculture
Supporting yields while minimizing negative environmental impacts of agriculture is a major challenge of our century. There are numerous biotic and abiotic factors that influence crop growth and yields, as well as their potential interactions (Lobell et al., 2009). The contribution of these factors in closing yield gaps can be enhanced by improving agronomic management (e.g. irrigation, fertilization, plant breeding, integrated pest management) and/or by integrating bundles of ecosystem
Methods: literature review and dataset investigation
We conducted a literature review consulting the online reference database ISI Web of Science (for details about selection criteria and process see Fig. S1). We selected all peer-reviewed studies where yield response to insect pollination (pollination benefits) was measured in crops and related to the experimental manipulation of at least one other concomitant ES or management factor below and/or above ground. Concomitant ES and management factors were usually quantified as the beneficial
General trends
First, we present the general patterns that emerged from the selected literature. Second, we discuss individual studies for soil factors and pest control, separately. Third, we explore the potential mechanisms driving interactions between pollination and concomitant factors.
The literature search resulted in 24 peer-reviewed studies for a total of 39 individual statistical tests of interactions (Tables 1 and S2). All the studies were published since 2004 and 80% was published since 2013. Studies
Potential mechanisms driving interactions between pollination and concomitant factors
Pollination and its contribution to seed formation is connected to plant physiological processes (Knight et al., 2005). We therefore suggest to explore how concomitant ES, crop management and crop life history traits alter resource availability for reproduction and resource allocation strategies in order to better understand the mechanisms driving the variability of pollination benefits in crop production.
Methodological approaches to study interactions
Understanding of how complex combinations of ES and management factors might affect pollination benefits will require several complementary approaches. Below, we review the weaknesses and strengths of the methodological approaches that have been used.
Study limitation and research gaps
Our review explores a recently emerged field of applied ecological research. The main limitation of our study is consequently the limited number of studies available on the topic. Moreover, the selected studies were performed in different cropping systems and with different experimental approaches, which is reflected in the variability of interactions observed. Nevertheless, the patterns emerged clearly show the importance of considering context dependency when managing pollination services and
Conclusions: implications for management
We found interactions between pollination and other factors influencing yield to be prevalent across several crops and mostly displaying positive-synergistic relationships. Soil properties and crop pests are expected to affect the contribution of pollination to yield by altering the amount of resources a plant can allocate to reproduction, independently of the amount of pollen provided. However, strategies to counteract pollination deficiency in crops have mainly consisted of interventions to
Acknowledgements
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no 311781, LIBERATION Project (www.fp7liberation.eu).
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