School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2022 Jun 20;377(1853):20210170. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0170. Epub 2022 May 2.
Bee and non-bee insect pollinators play an integral role in the quantity and quality of production for many food crops, yet there is growing evidence that nutritional challenges to pollinators in agricultural landscapes are an important factor in the reduction of pollinator populations worldwide. Schemes to enhance crop pollinator health have historically focused on floral resource plantings aimed at increasing pollinator abundance and diversity by providing more foraging opportunities for bees. These efforts have demonstrated that improvements in bee diversity and abundance are achievable; however, goals of increasing crop pollination outcomes via these interventions are not consistently met. To support pollinator health and crop pollination outcomes in tandem, habitat enhancements must be tailored to meet the life-history needs of specific crop pollinators, including non-bees. This will require greater understanding of the nutritional demands of these taxa together with the supply of floral and non-floral food resources and how these interact in cropping environments. Understanding the mechanisms underlying crop pollination and pollinator health in unison across a range of taxa is clearly a win-win for industry and conservation, yet achievement of these goals will require new knowledge and novel, targeted methods. This article is part of the theme issue 'Natural processes influencing pollinator health: from chemistry to landscapes'.
蜜蜂和非蜜蜂昆虫传粉者在许多粮食作物的产量和质量方面发挥着重要作用，但越来越多的证据表明，农业景观中传粉者面临的营养挑战是全球传粉者数量减少的一个重要因素。历史上，提高作物传粉者健康的计划主要集中在花卉资源种植上，目的是通过为蜜蜂提供更多的觅食机会来增加传粉者的数量和多样性。这些努力表明，提高蜜蜂多样性和丰富度是可行的；然而，通过这些干预措施增加作物授粉效果的目标并不总是能够实现。为了同步支持传粉者健康和作物授粉效果，栖息地的改善必须根据特定作物传粉者的生活史需求进行调整，包括非蜜蜂。这将需要更多地了解这些类群的营养需求，以及花卉和非花卉食物资源的供应情况，以及它们在作物环境中的相互作用。在一系列类群中，协同理解作物授粉和传粉者健康的机制显然对工业和保护都是双赢的，但要实现这些目标，需要新的知识和新的、有针对性的方法。本文是主题为“影响传粉者健康的自然过程：从化学到景观”的一部分。
