Abstract
AbstractTo exploit the potential of ecological intensification during sunflower cropping, it is crucial to understand the potential synergies between crop management and ecosystem services. We therefore examined the effect of pollination intensification on sunflower yield and productivity under various levels of soil fertilization over two seasons in the eastern Free State, South Africa. We manipulated soil fertility with fertilizer applications and pollination with exclusion bags. We found a synergetic effect between pollination and soil fertilization whereby increasing pollination intensity led to a far higher impact on sunflower yield when the soil had been fertilized. Specifically, the intensification of insect pollination increased seed yield by approximately 0.4 ton/ha on nutrient poor soil and by approximately 1.7 ton/ha on moderately fertilized soil. Our findings suggest that sunflower crops on adequate balanced soil fertility will receive abundant insect pollination and may gain more from both synergies than crops grown in areas with degraded soil fertility.
Highlights
Soil nutrition status plays a decisive role in crop pollination, floral resources, physiological responses of flowering crops and its productivity (Phillips et al, 2018; Tamburini et al, 2019)
Natural ecosystem services and food crop productivity are under threat due to climate change, unavailability of floral resources, agrochemical inputs, pests and diseases, population pressure and soil degradation (Boreux et al, 2013; Tamburini et al, 2016; Ramos et al, 2018)
Many studies on plant pollination interactions report that pollination services may be influenced by the availability of floral resources, soil fertility and prevailing climatic conditions, but the findings focus on how the plant community could affect pollinator abundance and diversity (Gess and Gess, 1993; Klein et al, 2007; Carvalheiro et al, 2011; Mesa et al, 2013; Marini et al, 2015)
Summary
Soil nutrition status plays a decisive role in crop pollination, floral resources, physiological responses of flowering crops and its productivity (Phillips et al, 2018; Tamburini et al, 2019). Natural ecosystem services and food crop productivity are under threat due to climate change, unavailability of floral resources, agrochemical inputs, pests and diseases, population pressure and soil degradation (Boreux et al, 2013; Tamburini et al, 2016; Ramos et al, 2018). There are expectations that interactive responses of insect pollination and soil fertilization management on a crop such as sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) will vary with environmental location and nutrient availability for plant growth
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