Functional Group Diversity Of Bee Pollinators Increases Crop Yield

In a study on the functional role of biodiversity in tropical agroforestry systems, we found that pollinator diversity, but not abundance, was positively related to seed set of pumpkin.

Furthermore, we classified species due to differences in spatiotemporal resource use and within-flower behaviour into functional guilds and showed that diversity of functional groups explained more variance in seed set than did species richness, highlighting the role of functional complementarity.

These results enhance our understanding of how pollinator diversity affects food production and how losses of bee species and functional diversity under global change threaten sustainable crop production.


Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences


Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.


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