Native flower strips increase visitation by non-bee insects to avocado flowers and promote yield

Muñoz, Alfonso Salgado; Plantegenest, Manuel; Amouroux, Paul; Zaviezo, Tania

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2021.08.015

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Like bees, adult flies visit flowers to obtain pollen and nectar (Ssymank et al 2008). However, as most flies do not provision their offspring with resources, like bees, they may be more willing to visit less-rewarding flowers (Ssymank et al 2008;Muñoz et al 2021;Toivonen et al 2022). Flies are often also very mobile, fecund and have short lifecycles, allowing their populations to adapt quickly to favourable environments (Rader et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fishing for flies: testing the efficacy of “stink stations” for promoting blow flies as pollinators in mango orchards

2023

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Pollinator communities are composed of diverse groups of insects, with radically different life histories and resource needs. Blow flies are known to visit a variety of economically important crop plants. Larval blow flies develop by feeding on decaying animals. Some fruit growers are known to place carrion on farms during the flowering season to attract adult blow flies (Calliphoridae). However, the efficacy of these “stink stations” has not been tested. We conducted a series of experiments to determine: 1) if stink stations promote the abundance of blow flies in mango orchards (Mangifera indica L.), 2) if any increases in the abundance of flies acts to promote pollination and fruit set in Australian mango orchards. Farms with stink stations had approximately three times more flies than control farms. However, the increased abundance of blow flies did not result in increased fruit set. Although stink stations increased the abundance of blow flies, we found no evidence that their use improves mango yield. This may be due to pollination saturation by a highly abundant native hover fly, Mesembrius bengalensis (Syrphidae), during our study. We hypothesize that stink stations may only be beneficial in years or regions where other pollinators are less abundant.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fishing for flies: testing the efficacy of “stink stations” for promoting blow flies as pollinators in mango orchards

2023

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“…Avocado yield increased by 40–60% in fields next to native flower habitats, which was attributed to increases in the number of flies that were responsible for pollination [ 55 ].…”

Section: Impacts Of Floral Resources On Fruit Damage and Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Wildflower Interventions on Beneficial Insects in Fruit Crops: A Review

Fountain

2022

Insects

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Integrated pest management (IPM) has been practiced by the fruit industry for at least 30 years. Naturally occurring beneficial insects have been encouraged to thrive alongside introduced predatory insects. However, Conservation Biological Control (CBC) and augmented biocontrol through the release of large numbers of natural enemies is normally only widely adopted when a pest has become resistant to available conventional pesticides and control has begun to break down. In addition, the incorporation of wild pollinator management, essential to fruit production, has, in the past, not been a priority but is now increasingly recognized through integrated pest and pollinator management (IPPM). This review focuses on the impacts on pest regulation and pollination services in fruit crops through the delivery of natural enemies and pollinating insects by provisioning areas of fruiting crops with floral resources. Most of the studies in this review highlighted beneficial or benign impacts of floral resource prevision to fruit crops. However, placement in the landscape and spill-over of beneficial arthropods into the crop can be influential and limiting. This review also highlights the need for longer-term ecological studies to understand the impacts of changing arthropod communities over time and the opportunity to tailor wildflower mixes to specific crops for increased pest control and pollination benefits, ultimately impacting fruit growers bottom-line with less reliance on pesticides.

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“…Assessment of pesticide impact and risk to solitary ground-nesting bees as demonstrated by Christmann (2022), may be particularly important for the protection of pollinators in developing countries with high pesticide use (Dicks et al, 2021). For faba bean, cherry and apple that bloom in early season, seeding adequate complementary flowering crops (Christmann and Aw-Hassan, 2012;Sentil et al, 2021), wildflowers strips (Garibaldi et al, 2011;Sutter et al, 2017;Muñoz et al, 2021) or hedgerows (Morandin and Kremen, 2013) may help to attract early flying bees like the genera Eucera, Anthophora, and Bombus and help to conserve these bees in the agricultural landscape.…”

Section: Conservation Implications and Future Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and Relative Abundance of Insect Pollinators in Moroccan Agroecosystems

Abdouni

Lhomme²,

Christmann³

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Agroecosystems are often impoverished ecosystems, but they can host diverse communities of insects which provide ecosystem services. Specifically, crops may benefit from insect pollinators that increase their quantity and quality of yields. Basic knowledge is still needed regarding the identity, diversity, abundance, and ecology of insect pollinators in many parts of the world, especially in low and middle-income countries. In this study we investigate the potential of agroecosystems and crops in Morocco to host a high diversity of insect pollinators. We sampled insects in four eco-climatic regions encompassing a total of 22 crops for 2 years (2018–2019). After describing the general pattern of diversity and abundance of insect pollinators, we focused our comparative analyses on bees as they are known to be the most efficient and abundant group of insect pollinators. We recorded a total of 53,361 insect pollinators in all agroecosystems among which 37,091 were visiting crop flowers. Bees were by far the most abundant group visiting crops. Honeybees represented 49% of crop visitors followed by wild bees representing 33% of relative abundance. Three genera (Lasioglossum, Andrena, and Xylocopa) represented 53% of the total abundance of wild bees visiting crops. We identified a total of 213 species visiting crops (22% of national wild bee species richness). A comparison of the abundance, species richness, and community composition of wild bees visiting the same crops showed significant inter-regional differences for zucchini, faba bean, and eggplant. This study highlights the high diversity of pollinators in Moroccan agroecosystems and represents an important step toward exploring the Moroccan pollinator fauna. It provides basic information for future studies on pollinator conservation and pollination services.

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Native flower strips increase visitation by non-bee insects to avocado flowers and promote yield

Cited by 17 publications

References 56 publications

Fishing for flies: testing the efficacy of “stink stations” for promoting blow flies as pollinators in mango orchards

Fishing for flies: testing the efficacy of “stink stations” for promoting blow flies as pollinators in mango orchards

Impacts of Wildflower Interventions on Beneficial Insects in Fruit Crops: A Review

Diversity and Relative Abundance of Insect Pollinators in Moroccan Agroecosystems

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