Mallinger Rachel E, Bradshaw Jeff, Varenhorst Adam J, Prasifka Jarrad R
Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center, USDA-ARS, Albrecht Boulevard North, Fargo, ND.
Panhandle Research and Extension Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Avenue I, Scottsbluff, NE.
J Econ Entomol. 2019 Feb 12;112(1):40-48. doi: 10.1093/jee/toy322.
The benefits of insect pollination to crop yields depend on genetic and environmental factors including plant self-fertility, pollinator visitation rates, and pollinator efficacy. While many crops benefit from insect pollination, such variation in pollinator benefits across both plant cultivars and growing regions is not well documented. In this study, across three states in the northern Great Plains, United States, from 2016 to 2017, we evaluated the pollinator-mediated yield increases for 10 varieties of confection sunflowers, Helianthus annuus L. (Asterales: Asteraceae), a plant that is naturally pollinator-dependent but was bred for self-fertility. We additionally measured pollinator visitation rates and compared per-visit seed set across pollinator taxa in order to determine the most efficacious sunflower pollinators. Across all locations and hybrids, insect pollination increased sunflower yields by 45%, which is a regional economic value of over $40 million and a national value of over $56 million. There was, however, some variation in the extent of pollinator benefits across locations and plant genotypes, and such variation was significantly related to pollinator visitation rates, further highlighting the value of pollinators for confection sunflowers. Female Andrena helianthi Robertson (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) and Melissodes spp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were the most common and effective pollinators, while other bees including managed honey bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), small-bodied sweat bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), bumble bees Bombus spp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), and male bees were either infrequent or less effective on a per-visit basis. Our results illustrate that wild bees, in particular the sunflower specialists A. helianthi and Melissodes spp., provide significant economic benefits to confection sunflower production.
昆虫授粉对作物产量的益处取决于遗传和环境因素，包括植物的自育性、传粉者访花率以及传粉者的效率。虽然许多作物受益于昆虫授粉，但传粉者对不同植物品种和种植区域的益处存在差异，这方面的记录并不完善。在本研究中，2016年至2017年期间，我们在美国大平原北部的三个州评估了传粉者介导的10个食用向日葵品种（Helianthus annuus L.，菊目：菊科）的产量增加情况，这种植物天然依赖传粉者，但已培育出自育性。我们还测量了传粉者的访花率，并比较了不同传粉类群每次访花的结籽情况，以确定最有效的向日葵传粉者。在所有地点和杂交品种中，昆虫授粉使向日葵产量提高了45%，这在区域层面的经济价值超过4000万美元，在全国层面超过5600万美元。然而，传粉者的益处程度在不同地点和植物基因型之间存在一些差异，这种差异与传粉者访花率显著相关，进一步凸显了传粉者对食用向日葵的价值。雌性向日葵地蜂（Andrena helianthi Robertson，膜翅目：地蜂科）和隧蜂属（Melissodes spp.，膜翅目：蜜蜂科）是最常见且有效的传粉者，而其他蜜蜂，包括人工饲养的蜜蜂（膜翅目：隧蜂科）、西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera L.，膜翅目：蜜蜂科）、小型汗蜂（膜翅目：隧蜂科）、熊蜂属（Bombus spp.，膜翅目：蜜蜂科）以及雄蜂，要么出现频率低，要么每次访花的效果较差。我们的研究结果表明，野生蜜蜂，特别是向日葵专家物种向日葵地蜂和隧蜂属，为食用向日葵生产提供了显著的经济效益。
