Bees May be More Important Than Fertilizer for Crops to Yield

Most know that bees are an important part of agriculture, pollinating flowers that eventually turn into fruit, nuts and other produce. Now, though, researchers have found that a lack of bees and other wild insects can reduce harvest yields more drastically than a lack of fertilizer or a failure to provide crops with sufficient water; the findings highlight the importance of preserving these insects in order to insure food security.

In this case, the scientists examined almond trees, which are normally pollinated by bees and other insects. The researchers placed cages around some almond blossoms to keep insects from pollinating the flowers, allowed bees to pollinated other blossoms, and then pollinated others by hand. Some of the almond trees received water and fertilizer in accordance with local practices, and others were watered little and fertilized not at all.

The researchers then studied the various combinations to see how insects played a role. In the end, the scientists found that the almond trees that were pollinated by hand produced the most nuts, but that they were also very small. The unpollinated tree hardly produced any nuts at all, but the few it did create were very large. The trees that were pollinated by bees had a yield that was roughly 200 percent higher than that of self-pollinated trees.

That's not all the researchers found, either. The fertilization only had an effect on harvest yield in combination with the pollination manipulations. In addition, the researchers found that an almond tree can compensate for lack of nutrients and water in the short term by directing stored nutrients and water to the fruits; however, they can't compensate for sufficient pollination.

The findings reveal that pollination is key for higher almond yields. More specifically, it shows how insects play a crucial role and that, in fact, they're more important than either fertilization or water. This highlights the importance of finding out exactly what might be impacting bee populations as colonies continue to decline.

The findings are published in the journals Plant Biology and PLOS One.