Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb 21;17(1):6.
doi: 10.1186/s12898-017-0116-1.

Wild pollinators enhance oilseed rape yield in small-holder farming systems in China

Yi Zou  1   2 , Haijun Xiao  3 , Felix J J A Bianchi  4 , Frank Jauker  5 , Shudong Luo  6 , Wopke van der Werf  1
Affiliations

Wild pollinators enhance oilseed rape yield in small-holder farming systems in China

Yi Zou et al. BMC Ecol. .

Abstract

Background: Insect pollinators play an important role in crop pollination, but the relative contribution of wild pollinators and honey bees to pollination is currently under debate. There is virtually no information available on the strength of pollination services and the identity of pollination service providers from Asian smallholder farming systems, where fields are small, and variation among fields is high. We established 18 winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) fields along a large geographical gradient in Jiangxi province in China. In each field, oilseed rape plants were grown in closed cages that excluded pollinators and open cages that allowed pollinator access. The pollinator community was sampled by pan traps for the entire oilseed rape blooming period.

Results: Oilseed rape plants from which insect pollinators were excluded had on average 38% lower seed set, 17% lower fruit set and 12% lower yield per plant, but the seeds were 17% heavier, and the caged plants had 28% more flowers and 18% higher aboveground vegetative biomass than plants with pollinator access. Oilseed rape plants thus compensate for pollination deficit by producing heavier seeds and more flowers. Regression analysis indicated that local abundance and diversity of wild pollinators were positively associated with seed set and yield/straw ratio, while honey bee abundance was not related to yield parameters.

Conclusions: Wild pollinator abundance and diversity contribute to oilseed rape yield by enhancing plant resource allocation to seeds rather than to above-ground biomass. This study highlights the importance of the conservation of wild pollinators to support oilseed rape production in small-holder farming systems in China.

Keywords: Canola; Compensation; Ecosystem services; Honey bee; Pollination; Pollinator diversity; Wild bee.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Plant yield parameters of oilseed rape plants in closed (C) and open (O) cages. Bars represent SEM. Asterisks show the significance level based on an analysis with mixed models (see Table 2; *≤0.05; **≤0.01; ***<0.001)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • A global synthesis reveals biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production.
    Dainese M, Martin EA, Aizen MA, Albrecht M, Bartomeus I, Bommarco R, Carvalheiro LG, Chaplin-Kramer R, Gagic V, Garibaldi LA, Ghazoul J, Grab H, Jonsson M, Karp DS, Kennedy CM, Kleijn D, Kremen C, Landis DA, Letourneau DK, Marini L, Poveda K, Rader R, Smith HG, Tscharntke T, Andersson GKS, Badenhausser I, Baensch S, Bezerra ADM, Bianchi FJJA, Boreux V, Bretagnolle V, Caballero-Lopez B, Cavigliasso P, Ćetković A, Chacoff NP, Classen A, Cusser S, da Silva E Silva FD, de Groot GA, Dudenhöffer JH, Ekroos J, Fijen T, Franck P, Freitas BM, Garratt MPD, Gratton C, Hipólito J, Holzschuh A, Hunt L, Iverson AL, Jha S, Keasar T, Kim TN, Kishinevsky M, Klatt BK, Klein AM, Krewenka KM, Krishnan S, Larsen AE, Lavigne C, Liere H, Maas B, Mallinger RE, Martinez Pachon E, Martínez-Salinas A, Meehan TD, Mitchell MGE, Molina GAR, Nesper M, Nilsson L, O'Rourke ME, Peters MK, Plećaš M, Potts SG, Ramos DL, Rosenheim JA, Rundlöf M, Rusch A, Sáez A, Scheper J, Schleuning M, Schmack JM, Sciligo AR, Seymour C, Stanley DA, Stewart R, Stout JC, Sutter L, Takada MB, Taki H, Tamburini G, Tschumi M, Viana BF, Westphal C, Willcox BK, Wratten SD, Yoshioka A, Zaragoza-Trello C, Zhang W, Zou Y, Steffan-Dewenter I. Dainese M, et al. Sci Adv. 2019 Oct 16;5(10):eaax0121. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax0121. eCollection 2019 Oct. Sci Adv. 2019. PMID: 31663019 Free PMC article.
  • Meta-analysis reveals that pollinator functional diversity and abundance enhance crop pollination and yield.
    Woodcock BA, Garratt MPD, Powney GD, Shaw RF, Osborne JL, Soroka J, Lindström SAM, Stanley D, Ouvrard P, Edwards ME, Jauker F, McCracken ME, Zou Y, Potts SG, Rundlöf M, Noriega JA, Greenop A, Smith HG, Bommarco R, van der Werf W, Stout JC, Steffan-Dewenter I, Morandin L, Bullock JM, Pywell RF. Woodcock BA, et al. Nat Commun. 2019 Apr 1;10(1):1481. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09393-6. Nat Commun. 2019. PMID: 30931943 Free PMC article.
  • Regulation and Subfunctionalization of Flowering Time Genes in the Allotetraploid Oil Crop Brassica napus.
    Schiessl S. Schiessl S. Front Plant Sci. 2020 Nov 20;11:605155. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.605155. eCollection 2020. Front Plant Sci. 2020. PMID: 33329678 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Genetic and Physiological Responses to Heat Stress in Brassica napus.
    Kourani M, Mohareb F, Rezwan FI, Anastasiadi M, Hammond JP. Kourani M, et al. Front Plant Sci. 2022 Apr 5;13:832147. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.832147. eCollection 2022. Front Plant Sci. 2022. PMID: 35449889 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Carbohydrate Metabolism and Signaling in Squash Nectaries and Nectar Throughout Floral Maturation.
    Solhaug EM, Johnson E, Carter CJ. Solhaug EM, et al. Plant Physiol. 2019 Aug;180(4):1930-1946. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00470. Epub 2019 Jun 18. Plant Physiol. 2019. PMID: 31213512 Free PMC article.
See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Klein A-M, Vaissiere BE, Cane JH, Steffan-Dewenter I, Cunningham SA, Kremen C, Tscharntke T. Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proc R Soc B. 2007;274(1608):303–313. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3721. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Allen-Wardell G, Bernhardt P, Bitner R, Burquez A, Buchmann S, Cane J, Cox PA, Dalton V, Feinsinger P, Ingram M, et al. The potential consequences of pollinator declines on the conservation of biodiversity and stability of food crop yields. Conserv Biol. 1998;12(1):8–17. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.97154.x. - DOI
    1. Bommarco R, Marini L, Vaissiere BE. Insect pollination enhances seed yield, quality, and market value in oilseed rape. Oecologia. 2012;169(4):1025–1032. doi: 10.1007/s00442-012-2271-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Biesmeijer JC, Roberts SPM, Reemer M, Ohlemüller R, Edwards M, Peeters T, Schaffers AP, Potts SG, Kleukers R, Thomas CD, et al. Parallel declines in pollinators and insect-pollinated plants in Britain and the Netherlands. Science. 2006;313(5785):351–354. doi: 10.1126/science.1127863. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Potts SG, Biesmeijer JC, Kremen C, Neumann P, Schweiger O, Kunin WE. Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers. Trends Ecol Evol. 2010;25(6):345–353. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.01.007. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources