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National Science Foundation (NSF); Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN); Dutch Research Council (NWO); Argentinean Ministry of Science (MINCyT); Comunidad de Madrid (CAM)

Analysis of institutional authors

Allen-Perkins, AlfonsoAuthor

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April 28, 2024
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Wild insects and honey bees are equally important to crop yields in a global analysis

Publicated to:Global Ecology And Biogeography. 33 (7): - 2024-07-01 33(7), DOI: 10.1111/geb.13843

Authors: Reilly, J; Bartomeus, I; Simpson, D; Allen-Perkins, A; Garibaldi, L; Winfree, R

Affiliations

Basque Ctr Climate Change BC3, Edificio Sede 1,Planta 1,Parque Cientif UPV EHU, Leioa, Spain - Author
Consejo Nacl Invest Cient & Tecn, Buenos Aires, Argentina - Author
Estn Biol Donana EBD CSIC, Seville, Spain - Author
Grp Interdisciplinar Sistemas Complejos GISC, Madrid, Spain - Author
Rutgers State Univ, Dept Ecol Evolut & Nat Resources, New Brunswick, NJ 08854 USA - Author
Univ Nacl Rio Negro, Inst Invest Recursos Nat Agroecol & Desarrollo Rur, Viedma, Rio Negro, Argentina - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Grp Sistemas Complejos GSC, ETSIDI, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

AimMost of the world's food crops are dependent on pollinators. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty in the strength of this relationship, especially regarding the relative contributions of the honey bee (often a managed species) and wild insects to crop yields on a global scale. Previous data syntheses have likewise reached differing conclusions on whether pollinator species diversity, or only the number of pollinator visits to flowers, is important to crop yield. This study quantifies the current state of these relationships and links to a dynamic version of our analyses that updates automatically as studies become available.LocationGlobal.Time PeriodPresent.Taxa studiedInsect pollinators of global crops.MethodsUsing a newly created database of 93 crop pollination studies across six continents that roughly triples the number of studies previously available, we analysed the relationship between insect visit rates, pollinator diversity, and crop yields in a series of mixed-effects models.ResultsWe found that honey bees and wild insects contribute roughly equal amounts to crop yields worldwide, having similar average flower visitation rates and producing similar increases in yield per visit. We also found that pollinator species diversity was positively associated with increased crop yields even when total visits from all species are accounted for, though it was less explanatory than the total number of visits itself.Main conclusionsOur analysis suggests a middle ground where honey bees are not responsible for the vast majority of crop pollination as has often been assumed in the agricultural literature, and likewise wild insects are not vastly more important than honey bees, as recent global analyses have reported. We also conclude that while pollinator diversity is less important than the number of pollinator visits, these typically involve many species, underscoring the importance of conserving a diversity of wild pollinators.

Keywords

AbundancAbundanceBiodiversityCrop yieldDiversityFruit-setHoney beeIncreasesNative beesPollinationPollination servicesSpecies richnessWild insectWild insects

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Global Ecology And Biogeography due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position 12/197, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Ecology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-07-06:

  • WoS: 9
  • Scopus: 16

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-06:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 69.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 69 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 59.15.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 47 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 3 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Argentina; United States of America.