Global synthesis of apple pollination research highlights general pollen limitation and positive contributions of wild bees compared to honeybees - 2025
[en] Apple is one of the most important pollinator-dependent fruit crops worldwide. To secure high-quality yields, it is crucial to know which, and to what extent, pollinating insects contribute to its pollination success as measured by fruit set, fruit weight and seed set. We perform a meta-analysis of field studies conducted across multiple orchards on insect-mediated pollination in apple cultivation, using raw data from 29 studies, totalling 532 orchard replicates. We assessed the extent of pollen limitation on different pollination outcomes and assessed the contribution of honeybees, wild bees and bee species richness to apple pollination. Across all studies, we detected strong evidence of pollen limitation for fruit set and seed set, but not for fruit weight. Honeybees were the most abundant flower visitors (average relative visitation of 71.9%) compared to wild bees; but when correcting for their pollination efficiency, the relative pollination contribution of honeybees was lower compared to their relative visitation (vice versa for solitary bees). We conclude that honeybee visitation rate did not influence fruit or seed set; yet increasing honeybee visitation had a small, negative effect on fruit weight. Fruit set was not influenced by wild bee visitation rate, whereas wild bee visitation had a small, but clear positive effect on fruit weight and seed set. Bee species richness had a small, positive effect on seed set; whereas it did not affect fruit set and fruit weight. Syntheses and applications. Our study highlights that pollen limitation is common in this global crop. While managed honeybees are dominant pollinators, a diverse community of wild bees contributes significantly to apple pollination and high-quality yield. The positive effect of wild bees and species richness on fruit weight and seed set demonstrates that wild bee pollination results in better-quality fruit production (increased weight & seed set). Therefore, our synthesis highlights the importance of conserving pollinator diversity to maintain pollination services. The absence of a clear effect of honeybee visitation rate on fruit and seed set, coupled with its negative impact on fruit weight, suggests a need for further optimisation of honeybee management to improve the cost-efficiency of pollination management.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Eeraerts, Maxime ; Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
Osterman, Julia ; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden ; Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden ; Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Batáry, Péter ; ‘Lendület’ Landscape and Conservation Ecology, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Vácrátót, Hungary ; Department of Agriculture, Ecotrophology, and Landscape Development, Faunistics and Wildlife Conservation, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Bernburg, Germany
Klein, Alexandra-Maria ; Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Albrecht, Matthias ; Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, Switzerland
Andersson, Georg K. S. ; Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Báldi, András ; Lendület Ecosystem Services Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
Bernauer, Olivia M. ; Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, United States
Blechschmidt, Leah; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
Blitzer, Eleanor J.; Department of Biology, Carroll College, Helena, United States
Borges, Paulo A. V. ; Azorean Biodiversity Group, cE3c—Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade dos Açores, São Pedro, Portugal
Bosch, Jordi ; CREAF, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Burns, Katherine L. W.; School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Campbell, Alistair J. ; Natural England, Kendal, United Kingdom
Castro, Sílvia ; Associate Laboratory Terra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Cook, James M. ; Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
Daelemans, Robin ; Agronomic and Conservation Ecology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Danforth, Bryan N. ; Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
de Groot, Arjen G. ; Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
Dorji, Kinley ; Department of Environment and Climate Change, Thimphu, Bhutan
Földesi, Rita ; Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Gaines Day, Hannah R. ; Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
García, Daniel ; Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
Garibaldi, Lucas A. ; Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina ; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Garratt, Michael P. D. ; Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading, United Kingdom
Gonzalez, Andrew ; Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Grab, Heather ; Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States
Gratton, Claudio ; Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
Halvorsen, Maren Kristine; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Hambäck, Peter A. ; Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Hatteland, Bjørn Arild ; Department of Invertebrate Pests and Weeds in Forestry, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway
Honnay, Olivier ; Agronomic and Conservation Ecology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Hulsmans, Eva ; Agronomic and Conservation Ecology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Vestheim, Sandra Kaasen; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Kleijn, David ; Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
Kovács-Hostyánszki, Anikó ; Lendület Ecosystem Services Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
Lechowicz, Martin J. ; Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Leclercq, Nicolas ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département GxABT > Biodiversité, Ecosystème et Paysage (BEP)
Liu, Yunhui ; College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Loureiro, João ; Associate Laboratory Terra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Mallinger, Rachel E. ; Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
Marshall, Leon ; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Meeus, Ivan ; Agrozoology Lab, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Miñarro, Marcos ; Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), Villaviciosa, Spain
Nabaes Jodar, Diego N. ; Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina ; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Pardo, Adara ; European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JCR), Ispra, Italy
Park, Mia G. ; Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States ; The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, United States
Paxton, Robert J. ; Institute for Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
Pérez-Méndez, Néstor ; IRTA, Sustainable Field Crops, Centre d'Amposta, Amposta, Spain
Pincante De Carvalho, Rafael A. ; Associate Laboratory Terra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Pirttilehto, Paavo; Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University, Bodø, Norway
Pisman, Matti ; Agrozoology Lab, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Potts, Simon G. ; Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading, United Kingdom
Raine, Nigel E. ; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
Reilly, James R. ; Deptartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, United States
Roquer-Beni, Laura ; CREAF, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Samnegård, Ulrika; Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Stanley, Dara A. ; School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Sutter, Louis ; Plant Production System, Agroscope, Conthey, Switzerland
Teixeira-Martins, Kyle; Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Tierney, Simon M. ; School of Science, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
Veldtman, Ruan ; South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Vereecken, Nicolas J. ; Agroecology Lab, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Wäckers, Felix ; R&D Department, Biobest Group NV, Westerlo, Belgium
Maxime Eeraerts is thankful to Rufus Isaacs for constructive advice on the study idea in the early stages of this study. Maxime Eeraerts was supported as a FWO postdoctoral fellow (grant no. 1210723N). Maxime Eeraerts and P\u00E9ter Bat\u00E1ry were supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH KKP 133839). Julia Osterman was supported by the Carl Trygger foundation (CTS 21:1757), Formas (grant no. 2024-00298) and the Strategic Research Area \u2018Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate\u2019 (BECC). Alexandra-Maria Klein was funded by the Horizon2020 project RestPoll (project no. 101082101).Maxime Eeraerts is thankful to Rufus Isaacs for constructive advice on the study idea in the early stages of this study. Maxime Eeraerts was supported as a FWO postdoctoral fellow (grant no. 1210723N). Maxime Eeraerts and P\u00E9ter Bat\u00E1ry were supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH KKP 133839). Julia Osterman was supported by the Carl Trygger foundation (CTS 21:1757), Formas (grant no. 2024\u201000298) and the Strategic Research Area \u2018Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate\u2019 (BECC). Alexandra\u2010Maria Klein was funded by the Horizon2020 project RestPoll (project no. 101082101).
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