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Although wild pollinators are better conserved within protected areas and natural parks, where floral diversity and shelters are available, for agricultural production it is more convenient to conserve pollinators within agricultural fields. Recently, implementation of floral margins in agricultural landscapes has been shown to increase the abundan...
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... organic farming, beneficial insectary plants are widely used for their positive impact in conservation of natural enemies of pests and pollinators [36]. Since the commercialization of organic products is becoming increasingly widespread, this implies an unquestionable opportunity for organic production on a small-scale, where the use of beneficial insectary plants should be a key part of the production system (Figure 3) [38]. ...
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Grassland ecosystems can provide a variety of services for humans, such as carbon storage, food production, crop pollination and pest regulation. However, grasslands are today one of the most endangered ecosystems due to land use change, agricultural intensification, land abandonment as well as climate change. The present study explores the perform...
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... Hence, the residential areas have become the refugee for these animals particularly the insects, indirectly contribute to conservation of these important animal group. In the agroecosystem landscape, appropriate management strategies of these beneficiary plants in semi-natural habitat such as the residential compound could be beneficial to the neighbouring crops (Barbir, 2016). IN Rosa spp. is the foremost common ornamental plants and being cultivated for many millennia (Debener & Linde, 2009). ...
Many ornamental plants are aseasonal, providing continuous food supply which leads to survival of many flower-visiting insects. Although the flower-visiting insects are always perceived as pollinators, not all visitation actually resulted in pollination of the flowers. Thus, this study aimed to identify the flower-visiting insects of a common ornamental plant, Rosa spp., and to determine their potential role as pollinators from their foraging behaviour at the flowers. Data collection was conducted in Jasin, Melaka, in 2021. A camera was set up approximately 0.5 meter from the full bloom flower, throughout its anthesis period. From the video footage, the parameters recorded were visitation frequency, visitation type (legitimate and illegitimate visitation) and the time spent at the flower. As a result, 253 visitations were recorded by six insect taxa; four from the order Hymenoptera, and one each from the order Lepidoptera and Diptera. A hymenopteran bee, Halictidae sp. was found to show the highest visitation frequency. Only three species; Halictidae sp., Heterotrigona itama and Amegilla sp. showed legitimate visits. For the time spent (mean ± SE), Halictidae sp. (30.08 ± 4.87 minute) recorded significantly longer time as compared to other visitors (H = 13.78, df = 4, p < 0.01). Based on the visitation rate, time spent and visitation type, Halictidae sp. showed the highest potential as pollinator for Rosa spp., followed by H. itama and Amegilla sp. It is important to understand the contributions of the ornamental plants such as Rosa spp. as food source to these insects for conservation of these pollinating agents. Not only these flowers help in the survival of pollinating agents throughout the years, these pollinating agents also contribute to the survival of the flowering plants by facilitating the pollination process of the flowers they visited.
... The conflict between increased food production and conservation of natural habitats that threatens sustainability of ecosystem services including insect pollination has received a lot of attention by scientists [19]. Díaz et al. [20] and Barbir et al. [21] show that small-scale farming by indigenous and local communities are resilient to global declines in pollination services because they have always used agricultural practices that maintain local pollinators on and around their agriculture lands (e.g., agroforestry systems). However, these practices seem to be a bet-hedging strategy for diversifying food and sources of income stemming from limited access agricultural inputs, like fertilizers and pesticides, rather than deliberate actions to protect or conserve pollinators or practice sustainable agriculture [22][23][24][25]. ...
Global economic value of agriculture production resulting from animal pollination services has been estimated to be $235–$577 billion. This estimate is based on quantification of crops that are available at the global markets, and mainly originates from countries with precise information about quantities of agriculture production, exports, and imports. In contrast, knowledge about the contribution of pollinators to household food and income in small-scale farming at local and regional scales is still lacking, especially for developing countries where the availability of agricultural statistics is limited. Although the global decline in pollinator diversity and abundance has received much attention, relatively little effort has been directed towards understanding the role of pollinators in small-scale farming systems, which feed a substantial part of the world’s population. Here, we have assessed how local farmers in northern Tanzania depend on insect-pollinated crops for household food and income, and to what extent farmers are aware of the importance of insect pollinators and how they can conserve them. Our results show that local farmers in northern Tanzania derived their food and income from a wide range of crop plants, and that 67% of these crops depend on animal pollination to a moderate to essential degree. We also found that watermelon—for which pollination by insects is essential for yield—on average contributed nearly 25% of household income, and that watermelons were grown by 63% of the farmers. Our findings indicate that local farmers can increase their yields from animal pollinated crops by adopting more pollinator-friendly farming practices. Yet, we found that local farmers’ awareness of pollinators, and the ecosystem service they provide, was extremely low, and intentional actions to conserve or manage them were generally lacking. We therefore urge agriculture authorities in Tanzania to act to ensure that local farmers become aware of insect pollinators and their important role in agriculture production.
Global economic value of agriculture production resulting from animal pollination services has been estimated to be $235–$577 billion. This estimate is based on quantification of crops that are available at the global markets, and mainly originates from countries with precise information about quantities of agriculture production, exports, and imports. In contrast, knowledge about the contribution of pollinators to household food and income in small‐scale farming at local and regional scales is still lacking, especially for developing countries where the availability of agricultural statistics is limited. Although the global decline in pollinator diversity and abundance has received much attention, relatively little effort has been directed towards understanding the role of pollinators in small‐scale farming systems, which feed a substantial part of the world’s population. Here, we have assessed how local farmers in northern Tanzania depend on insect‐pollinated crops for household food and income, and to what extent farmers are aware of the importance of insect pollinators and how they can conserve them. Our results show that local farmers in northern Tanzania derived their food and income from a wide range of crop plants, and that 67% of these crops depend on animal pollination to a moderate to essential degree. We also found that watermelon—for which pollination by insects is essential for yield—on average contributed nearly 25% of household income, and that watermelons were grown by 63% of the farmers. Our findings indicate that local farmers can increase their yields from animal pollinated crops by adopting more pollinator‐friendly farming practices. Yet, we found that local farmers’ awareness of pollinators, and the ecosystem service they provide, was extremely low, and intentional actions to conserve or manage them were generally lacking. We therefore urge agriculture authorities in Tanzania to act to ensure that local farmers become aware of insect pollinators and their important role in agriculture production.
