What makes a good pollinator? Abundant and specialized insects with long flight periods transport the most strawberry pollen

Despite the importance of insect pollination to produce marketable fruits, insect pollination management is limited by insufficient knowledge about key crop pollinator species. This lack of knowledge is due in part to: 1) the extensive labour involved in collecting direct observations of pollen-transport, 2) the variability of insect assemblages over space and time, and 3) the possibility that pollinators may need access to wild plants as well as crop floral resources. We address these problems using strawberry in the UK as a case study. First, we compare two proxies for estimating pollinator importance: flower visits and pollen transport. Pollen-transport data might provide a closer approximation of pollination service, but visitation data are less time-consuming to collect. Second, we identify insect parameters that are associated with high importance as pollinators, estimated using each of the proxies above. Third, we estimated insects' use of wild plants as well as the strawberry c..., Data was collected in June 2009 in three different farms in Somerset, UK. SPECIFICATIONS OF METHODS: Insects were collected within transects using a hand net. Plant species were identified in the field while insect species were identified by Taxonomy experts (see paper). Bumblebee queens were identified in the field and released. Information on inter-tegument distance was taken from: Baldock, K.C., Goddard, M.A., Hicks, D.M., Kunin, W.E., Mitschunas, N., Morse, H., Osgathorpe, L.M., Potts, S.G., Robertson, K.M., Scott, A.V., Staniczenko, P.P., Stone, G.N., Vaughan, I.P. & Memmott, J. (2019) A systems approach reveals urban pollinator hotspots and conservation opportunities. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3, 363–373, 10.1038/s41559-018-0769-y. Hackett, T.D., Sauve, A.M.C., Davies, N., Montoya, D., Tylianakis, J.M. & Memmott, J. (2019) Re-shaping our understanding of species’ roles in landscape-scale networks. Ecology Letters 22, 1367–1377,44010.1111/ele.13292. ,尽管昆虫授粉对于商品果的生产至关重要，但昆虫授粉管理却因对关键作物传粉媒介物种的认知不足而受限。这种认知不足部分源于以下三点：1) 采集花粉传播的直接观测数据需耗费大量人力；2) 昆虫类群在空间与时间维度上存在显著变异性；3) 传粉媒介可能同时需要野生植物与作物花卉资源。 本研究以英国草莓为案例研究对象，旨在解决上述问题。其一，我们对比了两种评估传粉媒介重要性的替代指标：花朵访花量与花粉传播情况。花粉传播数据或能更精准地逼近授粉服务的实际效果，但访花数据的采集耗时更短。其二，我们通过上述两种替代指标，识别出与高传粉重要性相关的昆虫参数。其三，我们评估了昆虫对野生植物以及草莓（原文此处内容未完整）的利用情况。 研究数据于2009年6月在英国萨默塞特郡的三个不同农场采集。 ## 研究方法详述： 1. 采用手持捕虫网在样带内采集昆虫样本。 2. 植物物种在野外现场完成鉴定，昆虫物种则由分类学专家完成鉴定（详见研究论文）。 3. 熊蜂蜂王在野外完成识别后予以释放。 4. 翅基片间距（inter-tegument distance）的相关信息取自以下两篇文献： [1] Baldock, K.C., Goddard, M.A., Hicks, D.M., Kunin, W.E., Mitschunas, N., Morse, H., Osgathorpe, L.M., Potts, S.G., Robertson, K.M., Scott, A.V., Staniczenko, P.P., Stone, G.N., Vaughan, I.P. & Memmott, J. (2019) 系统方法揭示城市传粉媒介热点区域与保护机遇. 《自然-生态与进化》（Nature Ecology and Evolution）3, 363—373, DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0769-y. [2] Hackett, T.D., Sauve, A.M.C., Davies, N., Montoya, D., Tylianakis, J.M. & Memmott, J. (2019) 重塑我们对景观尺度网络中物种角色的认知. 《生态学通讯》（Ecology Letters）22, 1367—1377, DOI: 10.1111/ele.13292.