Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of animal pollination in food production. Klein et al. (2007) found that
fruit, vegetable or seed production from 87 of the world's leading food
crops depend upon animal pollination, representing 35% of global food
production. Roubik (1995) provided a detailed list for 1330 tropical plant
species, showing that for approximately 70% of tropical crops, at least one
variety is improved by animal pollination. Losey and Vaughan (2006) also
emphasized that flower-visiting insects provide an important ecosystem
function to global crop production through their pollination services. Eco-
nomic value of crop pollination in worldwide has been estimated at €153
billion annually (Gallai et al., 2009). The leading pollinator-dependent
crops are vegetables and fruits, representing about €50 billion each, fol-
lowed by edible oil crops, stimulants (coffee, cocoa, etc.), nuts and spices.
Climate change may be a further threat to pollination services (Hegland
et al., 2009; Memmott et al., 2007; Schweiger et al., 2010). Indeed, several
authors (Sutherst et al., 2007; Van der Putten et al., 2004) have argued
that including species interactions when analyzing the ecological effects
of climate change is of utmost importance. Empirical studies explicitly
focusing on the effects of climate change on wild plant-pollinator interac-
tions are scarce and those on crop pollination practically nonexistent. Our
approach has therefore been to indirectly assess the potential effects of
climate change on crop pollination through studies on related topics. We
have focused on the effects of climate change on crop plants and their wild
and managed pollinators, and studies on wild plant-pollinator systems that
may have relevance.
Estimates from the IPCC indicate that average global surface tempera-
tures will further increase by between 1.1°C (low emission scenario) and
6.4°C (high emission scenario) during the twenty-first century, and that the
increases in temperature will be greatest at higher latitudes (IPCC, 2007).
The biological impacts of rising temperatures depend upon the physiologi-
cal sensitivity of organisms to temperature change. (Deutsch et al., 2008)
point out that in contrast, insect species at higher latitudes, where the tem-
perature increase is expected to be higher-have broader thermal tolerance
and are living in cooler climates than their physiological optima. Warming
may actually enhance the performance of insects living at these latitudes.
It is therefore likely that tropical agro ecosystems will suffer from greater
population decrease and extinction of native pollinators than agro ecosys-
tems at higher latitudes.
