Scarcity of ecosystem services: an experimental manipulation of declining pollination rates and its economic consequences for agriculture.

Harpinder Sandhu,Benjamin Waterhouse,Stephane Boyer,Steve Wratten

doi:10.7717/peerj.2099

Harpinder Sandhu, Benjamin Waterhouse + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2099

Copy DOI

Abstract

Ecosystem services (ES) such as pollination are vital for the continuous supply of food to a growing human population, but the decline in populations of insect pollinators worldwide poses a threat to food and nutritional security. Using a pollinator (honeybee) exclusion approach, we evaluated the impact of pollinator scarcity on production in four brassica fields, two producing hybrid seeds and two producing open-pollinated ones. There was a clear reduction in seed yield as pollination rates declined. Open-pollinated crops produced significantly higher yields than did the hybrid ones at all pollination rates. The hybrid crops required at least 0.50 of background pollination rates to achieve maximum yield, whereas in open-pollinated crops, 0.25 pollination rates were necessary for maximum yield. The total estimated economic value of pollination services provided by honeybees to the agricultural industry in New Zealand is NZD $1.96 billion annually. This study indicates that loss of pollination services can result in significant declines in production and have serious implications for the market economy in New Zealand. Depending on the extent of honeybee population decline, and assuming that results in declining pollination services, the estimated economic loss to New Zealand agriculture could be in the range of NZD $295–728 million annually.

Highlights

An increasing world population and current food distribution and consumption patterns will require a 60% increase in global food production by 2050 (United Nations Environment Programme, 2012; FAO, 2013)
We present our findings across two main themes that illustrate the economic consequences of reduced pollination rates in New Zealand agriculture
In open-pollinated crops there was an increase with each 0.25 increase in pollinator access but the rate of increase in seed yield (Fig. 1) was not as high as that found in the hybrid crop

Summary

Introduction

An increasing world population and current food distribution and consumption patterns will require a 60% increase in global food production by 2050 (United Nations Environment Programme, 2012; FAO, 2013) These global trends are challenging agriculture to increase its contribution to the meeting of the food and nutritional security requirements of a growing population. Achieving those goals is possible when agricultural practices recognise and enhance ecosystem services (ES) from farmland and minimise trade-offs between production and the environment Despite significant advances in the scientific understanding of the consequences of degradation of different types of ES in agriculture, current policies at national and global level continue largely to ignore the value of ES contributions to the achievement of food and nutritional security (FAO, 2013). It is highly unlikely that all pollinators will disappear at once so incremental change in the status and value of ES (in this case, pollination services) is a better measure to develop appropriate responses at the policy level

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion