Global relationships between crop yield and pollinator abundance.
Abstract
Pollinators are estimated to benefit the reproduction of three-quarters of global leading crop species and contribute to 3%-8% of the total global food production. Ongoing declines in pollinator populations have raised concerns about repercussions for food security. Thus, there is a need to better understand how agricultural yields depend on pollinator abundance. Here, we established yield-pollinator relationships for 24 crops, capitalizing on a recently published global database with paired records of crop yield and pollinator abundance. We used linear mixed-effects modelling to relate relative yields to total pollinator abundance, accounting for differences in climate and farming practices. Overall, we found a positive relationship between crop yield and pollinator abundance, which was modified by management practice and climate zone. At a given pollinator abundance, yields were significantly higher for conventional than for organic farms, while yields in temperate regions were significantly higher than those in tropical regions. In addition, we found a positive relationship between relative yield and pollinator abundance for 21 out of the 24 crop species, indicating that variability in pollinator numbers across agricultural fields has consequences for crop pollination.