Assessing the role of dispersed floral resources for managed bees in providing supporting ecosystem services for crop pollination.

ABSTRACT: Most pollination ecosystem services studies have focussed on wild pollinators and their dependence on natural floral resources adjacent to crop fields. However, managed pollinators depend on a mixture of floral resources that are spatially separated from the crop field. Here, we consider the supporting role these resources play as an ecosystem services provider to quantify the use and availability of floral resources, and to estimate their relative contribution to support pollination services of managed honeybees. Beekeepers supplying pollination services to the Western Cape deciduous fruit industry were interviewed to obtain information on their use of floral resources. For 120 apiary sites, we also analysed floral resources within a two km radius of each site based on geographic data. Th

SUBMITTER: Melin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6164548 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature