Lucas A. Garibaldi, Luísa G. Carvalheiro, Bernard E. Vaissière, Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Juliana Hipólito, Breno M. Freitas, Hien T. Ngo, Nadine Azzu, Agustín Sáez, Jens Åström, Jiandong An, Betina Blochtein, Damayanti Buchori, Fermín J. Chamorro García, Fabiana Oliveira Da Silva, Kedar Devkota, Márcia De Fátima Ribeiro, Leandro Freitas, Maria C. Gaglianone, Maria Goss, Mohammad Irshad, Muo Kasina, Alípio J.S. Pacheco Filho, Lucia H. Piedade Kiill, Peter Kwapong, Guiomar Nates Parra, Carmen Pires, Viviane Pires, Ranbeer S. Rawal, Akhmad Rizali, Antonio M. Saraiva, Ruan Veldtman, Blandina F. Viana, Sidia Witter, Hong Zhang
Ecological intensification, or the improvement of crop yield through enhancement of biodiversity, may be a sustainable pathway toward greater food supplies. Such sustainable increases may be especially important for the 2 billion people reliant on small farms, many of which are undernourished, yet we know little about the efficacy of this approach. Using a coordinated protocol across regions and crops, we quantify to what degree enhancing pollinator density and richness can improve yields on 344 fields from 33 pollinator-dependent crop systems in small and large farms from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For fields less than 2 hectares, we found that yield gaps could be closed by a median of 24% through higher flower-visitor density. For larger fields, such benefits only occurred at high flower-visitor richness.Worldwide, our study demonstrates that ecological intensification can create synchronous biodiversity and yield outcomes.
Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural (IRNAD), Sede Andina, Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas, Mitre 630, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, CP 8400, Argentina; Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília - DF, 70910-900, Brazil; Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1749-016, Portugal; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, postbus 9517, RA, Leiden, 2300, Netherlands; Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, UR406 Abeilles et Environnement, 228 route de l'Aérodrome, CS40509, Avignon Cedex 9, F84914, France; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale Delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, 00153, Italy; Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto de Biologia, Rua Barão de Geremoabo, S/N, Campus de Ondina, Salvador, BA, CEP 40170110, Brazil; Departamento de Zootecnia-Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, Campus Universitário Do Pici, Fortaleza, CE, CEP 60021970, Brazil; IPBES Secretariat, Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), UN Campus, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, Bonn, D-53113, Germany; Laboratorio Ecotono, Universidad Nacional Del Comahue-CONICET, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente, Quintral 1250, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, CP 8400, Argentina; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Post Office Box 5685 Sluppen, Trondheim, NO-7485, Norway; Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China; Pontifícia Universidade Católica Do Rio Grande Do sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga, 6681, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90619900, Brazil; Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University. Jln. Kamper, Darmaga, Bogor, West Java, 16680, Indonesia; Laboratorio Investigaciones en Abejas (LABUN), Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Bogotá, CP11001, Colombia; Departamento de Educação em Ciências Agrárias e da Terra, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Campus Do Sertão, Rodovia Engenheiro Jorge Neto, Silos KM 0, Nossa Senhora da Gloria, SE, CEP 49680000, Brazil; Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal; Embrapa Semiárido, BR 428, Km 152, C.P. 23, zona rural, Petrolina, PE, CEP 56302970, Brazil; Jardim Botânico Do Rio de Janeiro (JBRJ), Rua Pacheco Leão 915, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 22460030, Brazil; Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Estadual Do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, CEP 28013620, Brazil; University of Zimbabwe, Faculty of Agriculture, Crop Science Department, Post Office Box MP167, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe; Conserv. and Mgmt. of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture Through Ecosystem Approach Project, Honey Bee Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation-Sericulture, Post Office Box 7816, Thika, code 01000, Kenya; College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana; Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Parque Estação Biológica, W5 Norte (Final), Brasília, DF, CEP 70770917, Brazil; Instituto Do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (INEMA)-UR Extremo sul, Rua Viena, no. 425, Bairro Dinnah Borges, Eunápolis, BA, CEP 45820970, Brazil; G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand, 263 643, India; Department of Plant Pest Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran, Malang, East Java, 65145, Indonesia; Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Politécnica, Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto Travessa 3, n.158, São Paulo, SP, CEP 05508010, Brazil; South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Centre, Private Bag X7, Claremont, 7735, South Africa; Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa; Centro de Pesquisa Emílio Schenk, Fundação Estadual de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Fepagro Vale Do Taquari), 1o Distrito, Fonte Grande, Caixa Postal 12, Taquari, RS, CEP 95860000, Brazil
