Anthropogenic disturbance of tropical forests threatens pollination services to açaí palm in the Amazon river delta

The açaí palm Euterpe oleracea Mart. in the Amazon river delta has seen rapid expansion to meet increased demand for its fruit. This has been achieved by transforming lowland forest habitats (floodplains) into simplified agroforests and intensive plantation in upland areas. As açaí palm makes an important contribution to the economy and food security of local communities, identifying management approaches that support biodiversity and ecosystem processes that underpin fruit production on açaí farms is essential.
We compared flower-visitor communities and açaí fruit production in floodplain forests and upland plantations, across gradients of local management intensity (i.e. açaí density per ha) and surrounding forest cover. The relative contribution of biotic pollination and degree of pollen limitation were assessed using insect exclusion and hand-pollination experiments.
We found that açaí flower visitors are highly diverse (c. 200 distinct taxa) and had variable responses to disturba...

亚马逊河三角洲的阿萨伊棕榈（açaí palm，学名Euterpe oleracea Mart.）为满足其果实日益增长的市场需求而快速扩张种植规模。这一扩张通过将低地森林生境（泛滥平原，floodplains）改造为简化农林业系统，并在高地区域发展集约化种植园得以实现。鉴于阿萨伊棕榈对当地社区的经济发展与粮食安全具有重要贡献，因此亟需确定既能支持生物多样性、又能维持阿萨伊果园果实生产所需生态过程的管理方案。
本研究对比了泛滥平原森林与高地种植园中的花访者群落（flower-visitor communities）及阿萨伊果实产量，研究梯度涵盖了当地管理强度（即每公顷阿萨伊棕榈种植密度）与周边森林覆盖率。通过昆虫排除实验与人工授粉实验，本研究评估了生物传粉的相对贡献与花粉限制（pollen limitation）程度。
研究结果显示，阿萨伊棕榈的花访者类群极为多样（约200个独特类群），且对干扰的响应存在差异……