The forgotten flies: the importance of non-syrphid Diptera as pollinators

Orford, Katherine A.; Vaughan, Ian P.; Memmott, Jane

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2934

Cited by 213 publications

(213 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…S3B). Although we have focused on bees, other taxa can be important crop pollinators (52). For simplicity in this initial nationwide assessment, we have also pooled all bee species into an overall abundance index, but bee taxa clearly vary in their importance as crop pollinators and their response to land use (53).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the status, trends, and impacts of wild bee abundance in the United States

Koh

Lonsdorf

Williams

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

416

315

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Wild bees are highly valuable pollinators. Along with managed honey bees, they provide a critical ecosystem service by ensuring stable pollination to agriculture and wild plant communities. Increasing concern about the welfare of both wild and managed pollinators, however, has prompted recent calls for national evaluation and action. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we assess the status and trends of wild bees and their potential impacts on pollination services across the coterminous United States. We use a spatial habitat model, national land-cover data, and carefully quantified expert knowledge to estimate wild bee abundance and associated uncertainty. Between 2008 and 2013, modeled bee abundance declined across 23% of US land area. This decline was generally associated with conversion of natural habitats to row crops. We identify 139 counties where low bee abundances correspond to large areas of pollinator-dependent crops. These areas of mismatch between supply (wild bee abundance) and demand (cultivated area) for pollination comprise 39% of the pollinator-dependent crop area in the United States. Further, we find that the crops most highly dependent on pollinators tend to experience more severe mismatches between declining supply and increasing demand. These trends, should they continue, may increase costs for US farmers and may even destabilize crop production over time. National assessments such as this can help focus both scientific and political efforts to understand and sustain wild bees. As new information becomes available, repeated assessments can update findings, revise priorities, and track progress toward sustainable management of our nation's pollinators.crop pollination | ecosystem services | habitat suitability | land-use change | uncertainty B ees and other flower-visiting animals provide essential pollination services to many US crops (1) and to wild plant species (2). Bees contributed an estimated 11% of the nation's agricultural gross domestic product in 2009 (3), equal to $14.6 billion per year (4). Of this, at least 20% ($3.07 billion) is provided by wild pollinators that depend on suitable land for nesting and foraging (5). As the consumption of specialty fruit and vegetable crops has grown (6), the demand for pollination services has increased. However, the supply of managed honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) has not kept pace (7), due to management challenges and colony losses over the last decade (8). There is growing evidence that wild, unmanaged bees can provide effective pollination services where sufficient habitat exists to support their populations (9, 10). They can also contribute to the long-term stability of crop pollination, thereby reducing the risk of pollination deficits from variable supply or activity of honey bees (11, 12). As a result, wild pollinators should be integrated into crop pollination management plans as a supplement or alternative to managed bees (13).Despite the agricultural importance of wild bees, there is increasing evidence that multiple species ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the status, trends, and impacts of wild bee abundance in the United States

Koh

Lonsdorf

Williams

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

416

315

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“…This is more than twice as many as the next most diverse groups, the Coleoptera and the Hymenoptera. Diptera is the least diverse of these four main orders of pollinating insects, though that may change in the future as more work is done and the true diversity of flies as pollinators is revealed (Larson et al 2001, Orford et al 2015. The remaining groups are all rather low diversity in overall terms though they are no doubt ecologically important in certain regions and for particular plants.…”

Section: The Current Diversity Of Pollinatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollinator Diversity: Distribution, Ecological Function, and Conservation

Ollerton

2017

Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst.

554

429

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By facilitating plant reproduction, pollinators perform a crucial ecological function that supports the majority of the world's plant diversity, and associated organisms, and a significant fraction of global agriculture. Thus pollinators are simultaneously vital to supporting both natural ecosystems and human food security, which is a unique position for such a diverse group of organisms.The past couple of decades have seen unprecedented interest in pollinators and pollination ecology, stimulated in part by concerns over the decline of pollinator abundance and diversity in some parts of the world. This review synthesizes what is currently understood about the taxonomic diversity of organisms that are known to act as pollinators; their distribution in both deep time and present space; the importance of their diversity for ecological function (including agro-ecology); changes to diversity and abundance over more recent timescales, including introduction of non-native species, and a discussion of arguments for conserving their diversity.

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“…Non-syrphid flies are also important pollinators. Recent research analysing pollen loads in temperate ecosystems estimated that 84% of pollen carried by flies was carried by non-syrphid flies (Orford et al 2015). In high latitudes, the role of flies as pollinators is likely further increased due to their high numbers (Kevan 1972, Lindegaard & Jónasson 1979.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%