Crops, Weeds and Pollinators Understanding Ecological Interaction for Better Management
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CROPS, WEEDS AND POLLINATORS UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS CROPS, WEEDS AND POLLINATORS UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORS Miguel A. Altieri University of California, Berkeley Clara I. Nicholls University of California, Berkeley Mark Gillespie University of Leeds, United Kingdom Ben Waterhouse Lincoln University, New Zealand Steve Wratten Lincoln University, New Zealand Gualbert Gbèhounou FAO, Rome, Italy Barbara Gemmill-Herren FAO, Rome, Italy FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, ROME 2015 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. 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CROPS, WEEDS AND POLLINATORS UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ..................................................................................................................................vii 1 WEEDS AND POLLINATORS IN AgRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SySTEMS ..................................1 1.1 The importance of pollination as a biodiverse ecosystem service .............................................. 1 1.2 Threats facing crop pollinators ........................................................................................... 3 1.3 Habitat management to promote pollinators in farmland: the potential role of weeds ................. 4 1.4 The international response ................................................................................................. 5 2 THE IMPORTANCE OF WEEDS TO POLLINATORS .................................................................6 2.1 Mapping the linkages between weeds and pollinators ............................................................. 7 2.2 The importance of non-crop flowers to honey bees (Apis spp.) ...............................................10 2.3 The importance of non-crop flowers to bumble bees (Bombus spp.) .........................................14 2.4 The importance of non-crop flowers to stingless bees ......................................................... 17 2.5 The importance of non-crop flowers to solitary and other bees ...............................................19 2.6 The importance of non-crop flowers to hoverflies .................................................................23 2.7 Other important factors of pollinator conservation ...............................................................25 3 ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS AMONG CROPS, WEEDS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS ..................28 3.1 Weed vegetation management as a tool to enhance pollination services ..................................28 3.2 Weeds as habitats for pollinators .......................................................................................29 3.3 Effects of agricultural practices on wild pollinators ...............................................................32 4 AgRONOMIC STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE WEEDS BENEFICIAL TO POLLINATORS ...................40 4.1 Establishing or restoring weedy hedgerows ..........................................................................41 4.2 Maintaining tolerable levels of weed densities in the field .....................................................41 4.3 Attaining desirable weed species composition in the field .....................................................46 iii BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 5 WHOLE CROP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON WEEDS AND POLLINATORS ....51 5.1 The effects of intensive agricultural systems on weeds and pollinators ....................................52 5.2 The importance of less intensive farming systems .................................................................54 5.3 Pollinator management and farming systems ........................................................................56 5.4 An assessment of the effectiveness of pollinator management systems ....................................58 6 COST-BENEFITS TO CROP PRODUCTIVITY OF PROMOTING POLLINATOR FRIENDLY WEEDS .......61 6.1 Contribution of weeds to crop productivity (via pollination) ...................................................61 6.2 Broader economic considerations .......................................................................................64 7 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................66 References ............................................................................................................................71 Photocredits .........................................................................................................................96 iv CROPS, WEEDS AND POLLINATORS UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT LIST OF FIGURES AND BOXES Figure 1. Response of leading crops and commodities to annual pollination ...................................... 2 Figure 2. The influence of time of weed emergence or weed removal on percent yield of the check and magnitude of the weed-free critical period ..................................................................... 43 Figure 3. Area of influence of common cocklebur on total plant dry weight of (a) “forrest” and (b) “centennial” soybeans at 16 weeks after emergence (averaged over 1983 and 1984). ........ 44 Figure 4. Temporal trends in total crop production from 1961 to 2006 ........................................... 67 Figure 5. Effects of distance from native vegetation on similarity of pollinator species richness for grapefruit crops in Argentina ......................................................................................... 68 Figure 6. Strategies to encourage weed floral diversity within and around crop fields to conserve and enhance insect pollinators ............................................................................................. 69 Box 1. Practical tips for encouraging pollinator friendly weeds .................................................. 50 v BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS Lipotriches bee gathering pollen from Buffel grass. vi CROPS, WEEDS AND POLLINATORS UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION FOR BETTER MANAGEMENT PREFACE t is increasingly recognized that it is both possible and highly advantageous to address I future needs by transitioning to systems of food production that are based on an effective use of ecosystem services, in ways that are regenerative and minimize negative impacts. In managing agricultural systems through an ecological approach, it is often possible to build on beneficial biological interactions and find positive synergies. FAO’s Strategic Framework, through it Strategic Objective 2 – to increase and improve provision of goods and services from agriculture, forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner – recognizes that production systems can be managed to provide multiple benefits. One area of synergy that merits closer investigation is that of weed and pollination management. These two aspects of agriculture consist of a multitude of interactions, both beneficial and harmful for the farmer and agriculture in general. If the practices applied to effectively control weeds can also benefit pollinators, there may be multiple benefits. Another area of positive synergy is related to the practices enhancing populations of pollinators and favouring natural enemies. Under ecological management, some aspects of the farming system that are conventionally seen as problems, can become assets. Animal waste, for example, is a tremendous problem in intensive animal production systems, but becomes a valuable asset when crops and livestock are better integrated. Similarly, weeds in agricultural fields do provide resources to both pollinators and natural enemies, and in this respect can be better managed to provide such resources, while still managed to ensure that they do not impact on crop yields.