Theoretical Foundation of the Control of Pollination by Hoverflies in a Greenhouse

Abstract

We propose a conceptual model for pollination and fertilization of tomato flowers in greenhouses crops by hoverflies, when the maximal number of adult pollinators maintained by the crops is less than what is needed for an economically successful pollination in greenhouses. The model consists of a two-stage process for additional feeding of hoverfly to maintain the pollinator density at the economically desired level. First, with a stochastic model, we calculate the density of flies necessary for the economically successful pollination, determined according to the economically expected yield. Second, using a deterministic optimal control model, we find a minimum cost supplementary feeding strategy. In summary, we theoretically demonstrate, at the present stage of the research without validations in case studies, that optimal supplementary feeding can maintain the economically desired hoverfly density.

Pollination Contribution Differs among Insects Visiting Cardiocrinum cordatum Flowers

“…The maintenance of genetic diversity is important for the conservation of wild plant species, and successful cross-pollination plays a major role in gene flow to maintain the genetic diversity of plant populations [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], especially when a population is fragmented [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Additionally, pollination is a central issue in studies on plant-animal interactions [11][12][13][14][15], plant reproductive biology [15][16][17][18][19][20], and on improvement of agricultural production [15,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. For animal-pollinated flowers, pollination effectiveness differs among visitors of different species [3,5,[12][13][14][15]19,29].…”