Delivery of crop pollination services is an insufficient argument for wild pollinator conservation

David Kleijn (), Rachael Winfree, Ignasi Bartomeus, Luísa G Carvalheiro, Mickaël Henry, Rufus Isaacs, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Claire Kremen, Leithen K M'Gonigle, Romina Rader, Taylor H Ricketts, Neal M Williams, Nancy Lee Adamson, John S Ascher, András Báldi, Péter Batáry, Faye Benjamin, Jacobus C Biesmeijer, Eleanor J Blitzer, Riccardo Bommarco, Mariëtte R Brand, Vincent Bretagnolle, Lindsey Button, Daniel P Cariveau, Rémy Chifflet, Jonathan F Colville, Bryan N Danforth, Elizabeth Elle, Michael P.D. Garratt, Felix Herzog, Andrea Holzschuh, Brad G Howlett, Frank Jauker, Shalene Jha, Eva Knop, Kristin M Krewenka, Violette Le Féon, Yael Mandelik, Emily A May, Mia G Park, Gideon Pisanty, Menno Reemer, Verena Riedinger, Orianne Rollin, Maj Rundlöf, Hillary S Sardiñas, Jeroen Scheper, Amber R Sciligo, Henrik G Smith, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Robbin Thorp, Teja Tscharntke, Jort Verhulst, Blandina F Viana, Bernard E Vaissière, Ruan Veldtman, Kimiora L. Ward, Catrin Westphal and Simon G Potts
Additional contact information
David Kleijn: Animal Ecology Team, Center for Ecosystem Studies, Alterra, Wageningen UR
Rachael Winfree: Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University
Ignasi Bartomeus: Estación Biológica de Doñana (EDB-CSIC)
Luísa G Carvalheiro: School of Biology, University of Leeds
Mickaël Henry: UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, INRA, CS 40509
Rufus Isaacs: Michigan State University
Alexandra-Maria Klein: Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology Group, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg
Claire Kremen: Policy and Management, University of California
Leithen K M'Gonigle: Policy and Management, University of California
Romina Rader: School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England
Taylor H Ricketts: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont
Neal M Williams: University of California, Davis
John S Ascher: National University of Singapore
András Báldi: Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research
Péter Batáry: Agroecology Group, Georg-August-University
Faye Benjamin: Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University
Jacobus C Biesmeijer: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Eleanor J Blitzer: Cornell University
Riccardo Bommarco: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Mariëtte R Brand: South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Centre
Vincent Bretagnolle: Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS and Université La Rochelle
Lindsey Button: Simon Fraser University
Daniel P Cariveau: Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University
Rémy Chifflet: Plateforme Régionale d'Innovation "Agriculture Biologique et Périurbaine Durable"
Jonathan F Colville: South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Centre
Bryan N Danforth: Cornell University
Elizabeth Elle: Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372, CNRS and Université La Rochelle
Michael P.D. Garratt: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading
Felix Herzog: Agricultural Landscapes and Biodiversity
Andrea Holzschuh: Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland
Brad G Howlett: Sustainable Production, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited
Frank Jauker: Justus Liebig University Giessen
Shalene Jha: University of Texas at Austin
Eva Knop: Community Ecology Group, University of Bern
Kristin M Krewenka: Agroecology Group, Georg-August-University
Violette Le Féon: UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, INRA, CS 40509
Yael Mandelik: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Emily A May: Michigan State University
Mia G Park: Cornell University
Gideon Pisanty: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Menno Reemer: EIS Kenniscentrum Insecten, Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Verena Riedinger: Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland
Orianne Rollin: UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, INRA, CS 40509
Maj Rundlöf: Lund University
Hillary S Sardiñas: Policy and Management, University of California
Jeroen Scheper: Animal Ecology Team, Center for Ecosystem Studies, Alterra, Wageningen UR
Amber R Sciligo: Policy and Management, University of California
Henrik G Smith: Lund University
Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter: Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland
Robbin Thorp: University of California, Davis
Teja Tscharntke: Agroecology Group, Georg-August-University
Blandina F Viana: Biology Institute, Federal University of Bahia, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo, s/n, Campus Universitário de Ondina
Bernard E Vaissière: UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, INRA, CS 40509
Ruan Veldtman: South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Centre
Kimiora L. Ward: University of California, Davis
Catrin Westphal: Agroecology Group, Georg-August-University
Simon G Potts: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract There is compelling evidence that more diverse ecosystems deliver greater benefits to people, and these ecosystem services have become a key argument for biodiversity conservation. However, it is unclear how much biodiversity is needed to deliver ecosystem services in a cost-effective way. Here we show that, while the contribution of wild bees to crop production is significant, service delivery is restricted to a limited subset of all known bee species. Across crops, years and biogeographical regions, crop-visiting wild bee communities are dominated by a small number of common species, and threatened species are rarely observed on crops. Dominant crop pollinators persist under agricultural expansion and many are easily enhanced by simple conservation measures, suggesting that cost-effective management strategies to promote crop pollination should target a different set of species than management strategies to promote threatened bees. Conserving the biological diversity of bees therefore requires more than just ecosystem-service-based arguments.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8414 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms8414

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8414

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().