Wild Floral Visitors Are More Important Than Honeybees as Pollinators of Avocado Crops

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dc.contributor.authorCelis-Diez, Juan L. L.
dc.contributor.authorGarcia, Camila B. B.
dc.contributor.authorArmesto, Juan J. J.
dc.contributor.authorAbades, Sebastian
dc.contributor.authorGarratt, Michael P. D.
dc.contributor.authorFonturbel, Francisco E. E.
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-20T20:08:20Z
dc.date.available2025-01-20T20:08:20Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractWild insects provide pollination services in agroecosystems. Avocado is an economically important crop grown in the Chilean Mediterranean climate region and exported worldwide. Avocado pollination is managed using honeybee hives, while the role of wild insects as pollinators remains poorly known. We quantified the relative contributions of wild floral visitors and honeybees to the fruit set of avocados in two contrasting seasons (2015 and 2016) in Central Chile. Observations were made in 60 trees grown nearby (similar to 300 m) to remnant patches of native sclerophyll vegetation. We found that honeybees and wild insects accounted for 48.6% and 51.4% of total floral visitation, respectively, with a 68% taxonomic similarity of floral visitors between seasons. The presence of honeybees significantly modulated the floral visitor composition and modified plant-pollination network parameters, which resulted in the biotic homogenization of the interaction network, through the increase of shared tree-floral visitor interactions, to the detriment of exclusive interactions. Finally, wild insects were more effective than honeybees in pollinating avocado trees and their contribution was greatest during the dry year. Thus, honeybees alone cannot be relied upon to deliver maximum pollination. We highlight ecological intensification practices to encourage wild insect visits and avoid native vegetation replacement with orchards. Therefore, we emphasize that future ecological intensification research should address agricultural practices to promote wild insects and evaluate the role of native vegetation as wild pollinator habitat in agricultural landscapes.
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/agronomy13071722
dc.identifier.eissn2073-4395
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071722
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/91893
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:001034781600001
dc.issue.numero7
dc.language.isoen
dc.revistaAgronomy-basel
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectecological intensification
dc.subjectecosystem services
dc.subjectPersea americana
dc.subjectpollination
dc.subjectwild floral visitors
dc.subject.ods03 Good Health and Well-being
dc.subject.ods15 Life on Land
dc.subject.odspa03 Salud y bienestar
dc.subject.odspa15 Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
dc.titleWild Floral Visitors Are More Important Than Honeybees as Pollinators of Avocado Crops
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen13
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-01-12
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