Back to the future: Apis versus non-Apis pollination

Back

to

the

future:

Apis

versus

non-Apis

pollination

Alexandre

Aebi

,

Bernard

E.

Vaissie`re

,

Dennis

vanEngelsdorp

,

Keith

S.

Delaplane

,

David

W.

Roubik

and

Peter

Neumann

1_{AgroscopeReckenholz-Ta¨nikon,ResearchStationART,Reckenholzstrasse191,CH-8046Zu¨rich,Switzerland} 2

INRA(InstitutNationaldelaRechercheAgronomique),UMR406AbeillesetEnvironnementINRA-UAPV, F-84914AvignonCedex9,France

3_{DepartmentofEntomology,4112PlantSciencesBuilding,UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark,MD20742,USA} 4_{DepartmentofEntomology,UniversityofGeorgia,413BiologicalSciencesBuilding,Athens,GA30602,USA} 5

SmithsonianTropicalResearchInstitute,Box0843-03092,Balboa,Ancon,RepublicofPanama

6_{SwissBeeResearchCentre,AgroscopeLiebefeld-Posieux,ResearchStationALP,Schwarzenburgstrasse161,CH-3003Bern,}

Switzerland

7

DepartmentofZoologyandEntomology,RhodesUniversity,Grahamstown6140,SouthAfrica

TwentyyearsaftertheexchangebetweenSarahCorbetand RogerMorseinTREEconsideringtherelativeimportanceof pollinatinghoneybees,Apismellifera,versusotherspecies [1],thisdebatecontinues.Ollertonetal.[2]disregardedthe mainissueofourarticleaboutendosymbionts[3],although pathogenprevalencecanpredictnativebeedecline[4]and endosymbiontsmayplayarole[3].Instead,theytookissue withourfirstsentencebecauseitextolledhoneybees.We claimedhoneybeesareessentialpollinatorsforcropsand wildplantsbutOllertonandcolleaguesmaintainedthat‘By conflatingproblemsinthehoneybeeindustrywiththemuch moreacuteconservationissueoflossesofnativepollinators, honeybeeresearchersdodamagetothewholecommunityof researchers workingonbee biology and pollinationmore generally’[2].

Webelieveargumentspresentedtosupporttheircritique areweak.Manyconsistofunpublisheddataorfocusonthe UKwithlittlethoughttotherestoftheworld.Thus,the conclusionsofTomBreezeetal.[5]didnottakeintoaccount certainprominentchangesinthedependenceofUKcropson insect pollination, for example the development of self-fertile true hybrids in oilseed rape Brassica napus (http://www.nk.com/fmt/colza/syngenta-winter-oilseed-rape-breeding). Indeed,theirsubtitle might as well have been‘Howimportantarebumblebees?’becausethese polli-natorsarealsoindecline[6]althoughyieldsof pollinator-dependentcropshave,nonetheless,increased[5]. Regard-ingalmondyieldsinCaliforniasince2006,productiondid increaseasneworchardscameintobearingandsuchyoung orchards are more productive than older plantings (Joe Connell,personalcommunication).Furthermore,more hon-eybeecoloniesareshippedtoCaliforniaforalmond polli-nationaspollinationfeesincreased50%overthatperiod[7],

Correspondingauthor:Neumann,P. (peter.neumann@alp.admin.ch).

Published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution 27, issue 3, 142-143, 2012 which should be used for any reference to this work

thusthestockingrateofcoloniesperunitareaoforchardhas notchanged.Farmerswouldsimplynotpayfortheir intro-ductioninalmonds,apples,blueberries,cranberries,hybrid seedofoilseedrapeandsunflower,watermelonsandahost ofothercropsifcoloniesdidnotaddvaluetotheir produc-tion.Perhaps,unlikeintheUK,pollinationofmanycropsin mostpartsoftheworldreliesonA.mellifera[8].Analyzed carefully inthe field,thisisnot surprising becausetheir pollinatingactivitycanbegreaterthanthatofalternative species,although their individualvisitsmaynot bemore effective[9].

In theUK, as elsewhere, there areno adequate long-termstudies(>4 years)ofwildbee populationdynamics [10].Yetevidenceofsynergismwithinnewlyformed plant-pollinatorcommunities(thoseincluding exoticmembers) suggeststhatwithinsuchnetworks,theadditionofplant or pollinator species stabilizes or enhances mutualisms [11].Newcompetitors facilitatemutualismsand promul-gate resource partitioning, leading to shifts in foraging specialties.However, theydonotnecessarilycause popu-lationdeclineofnativebees[11].

Weagree with Ollerton et al.[2]that there islack of researchonanimalpollination.However,more important-ly, we feel that it is high time for a more collaborative approach focusing on improving pollination rather than recriminatingoradvocatingonepollinatorspeciesor an-other.Indeed,ithasbeendemonstratedthatinteractions betweenApisandnon-Apisbeescanhavealargepositive impactonoverallpollinationeffectiveness[12].This pro-videstherationaleforanewintegrativeparadigm: agri-culturalpollination should integratewild species, which providepollinationasanecosystemservice,andmanaged pollinatorintroductionascropmanagementpractices.We proposethatthisnewparadigmshouldreplacethe‘[honey bee]pollinationby bruteforce’ approachfavored in1991 [1].Thedemonstratedpositiveinteractionsbetween man-agedandwildpollinators[12]implythatitisfruitlessto emphasizepollinatingactivityofasinglespeciesorgroup ofspeciesasifitwereforagingalone,whethertoemphasize thevalueofhoneybees,ashasbeendonefartoooftenin

thepast,orthevalueofwildspecies,asisattemptedfartoo often recently(e.g.[5]). Indeed,managedandwild polli-natingspeciesfacemanycommonthreats(e.g.pathogens [3,4])andbotharesubjecttosignificantdeclines[3,4].The publicandscientificcommunitiesareinfavorofpollinator conservation, andtheactivespecialistswithin the scien-tificrealmshouldcooperatetoensuresustainable pollina-tionservicesby‘all’pollinators.

Acknowledgments

WethanktheEUFP7projectsBEEDOC(PN)andSTEP(BEV,PN),and the COST projects COLOSS and VIVA (PN) and FA0701 (AA) for financialsupport.

References

1 Morse,R.A.(1991)Honeybeesforever. TrendsEcol. Evol.6,337– 338

2 Ollerton, J. et al. (2012) Overplaying the role of honey bees as pollinators:acommenton Aebiand Neumann(2011).TrendsEcol. Evol.27,141–142

3 Aebi,A.andNeumann,P.(2011)Endosymbiontsandhoneybeecolony losses?TrendsEcol.Evol.26,494

4 Cameron,S.A.etal.(2011)PatternsofwidespreaddeclineinNorth Americanbumblebees.Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A.108,662–667 5 Breeze,T.D.etal.(2011)PollinationservicesintheUK:howimportant

arehoneybees?Agric.Ecosyst.Environ.142,137–143

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8 Klein, A.M. et al. (2007) Importance of pollinators in changing landscapesforworldcrops.Proc.Roy.Soc.B274,303–313

9 Rader,R.etal.(2009)Alternativepollinatortaxaareequallyefficient butnotaseffectiveasthehoneybeeinamassfloweringcrop.J.Appl. Ecol.46,1080–1087

10 Roubik,D.W.(2009)Ecologicalimpactonnativebeesbytheinvasive Africanizedhoneybee.ActaBiol.Colomb.14,115–124

11 Roubik,D.W.andVillanueva-Gutie´rrez,R.(2009)InvasiveAfricanized honeybeeimpactonnativesolitarybees:apollenresourceandtrap nestanalysis.Biol.J.Linn.Soc.98,152–160

12 Greenleaf,S.S.andKremen,C.(2006)Wildbeesenhancehoneybees’ pollination of hybrid sunflower. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 13890–13895