Meta-analysis reveals that pollinator functional diversity and abundance enhance crop pollination and yield.

ABSTRACT: How insects promote crop pollination remains poorly understood in terms of the contribution of functional trait differences between species. We used meta-analyses to test for correlations between community abundance, species richness and functional trait metrics with oilseed rape yield, a globally important crop. While overall abundance is consistently important in predicting yield, functional divergence between species traits also showed a positive correlation. This result supports the complementarity hypothesis that pollination function is maintained by non-overlapping trait distributions. In artificially constructed communities (mesocosms), species richness is positively correlated with yield, although this effect is not seen under field conditions. As traits of the dominant species do

SUBMITTER: Woodcock BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6443707 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature