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Pfister SC, Eckerter PW, Schirmel J, et al. Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees. R Soc Open Sci. 2017;4(5):170102doi: 10.1098/rsos.170102.
Pfister, S. C., Eckerter, P. W., Schirmel, J., Cresswell, J. E., & Entling, M. H. (2017). Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees. Royal Society open science, 4(5), 170102. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170102
Pfister, Sonja C, et al. "Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees." Royal Society open science vol. 4,5 (2017): 170102. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170102
Pfister SC, Eckerter PW, Schirmel J, Cresswell JE, Entling MH. Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees. R Soc Open Sci. 2017 May 31;4(5):170102. doi: 10.1098/rsos.170102. eCollection 2017 May. PMID: 28573019; PMCID: PMC5451820.
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R Soc Open Sci. 2017 May 31;4(5):170102. doi: 10.1098/rsos.170102. eCollection 2017 May.

Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees.

Royal Society open science

Sonja C Pfister, Philipp W Eckerter, Jens Schirmel, James E Cresswell, Martin H Entling

Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau, Germany.
  2. Biosciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK.

PMID: 28573019 PMCID: PMC5451820 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170102

Abstract

The yield of animal-pollinated crops is threatened by bee declines, but its precise sensitivity is poorly known. We therefore determined the yield dependence of Hokkaido pumpkin in Germany on insect pollination by quantifying: (i) the relationship between pollen receipt and fruit set and (ii) the cumulative pollen deposition of each pollinator group. We found that approximately 2500 pollen grains per flower were needed to maximize fruit set. At the measured rates of flower visitation, we estimated that bumblebees (21 visits/flower lifetime, 864 grains/visit) or honeybees (123 visits, 260 grains) could individually achieve maximum crop yield, whereas halictid bees are ineffective (11 visits, 16 grains). The pollinator fauna was capable of delivering 20 times the necessary amount of pollen. We therefore estimate that pumpkin yield was not pollination-limited in our study region and that it is currently fairly resilient to single declines of honeybees or wild bumblebees.

Keywords: Apis; Bombus; Cucurbita; Halictidae; ecosystem services; pollination effectiveness

Conflict of interest statement

We declare we have no competing interests.

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