Climate impacts apple pollination, yield and economic outcomes of farmers.
Riva C, Gachoki S, Adjlane N, Bevk D, Haider Y
Climate Adaptation
PubMedApples at your grocery store or farmers market depend on a delicate balance of bees and weather, and as climates shift, the rules of that balance are changing in ways that could reshape what crops grow where and how much they cost.
Scientists studied apple orchards across two continents over two years to understand how temperature affects the bees and other insects that help apples grow. They found that warmer days bring out more pollinators, especially honeybees, which helps apple harvests and boosts farmers' incomes. But here's the twist: in already-warm Mediterranean regions, wind — not insects — may actually be doing much of the pollination work, which changes how farmers there manage their orchards.
Key Findings
Warmer observation-day temperatures increased pollinator abundance, particularly honeybees, across 33 orchards in Europe and Northern Africa.
Apple yield and farmer economic returns both increased with higher long-term mean annual temperatures, while reliance on animal pollinators decreased in warmer climates.
Wind-mediated pollination is hypothesized to compensate for reduced animal pollination in Mediterranean regions, with farmers already adapting management strategies to leverage this.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A large study across 33 apple orchards in Europe and North Africa found that warmer temperatures boost pollinator activity, apple yields, and farmer profits — but also revealed that wind pollination may play a bigger role than previously recognized, especially in warmer Mediterranean climates.
Abstract Preview
Animal-mediated pollination is crucial to global food production but is increasingly threatened by environmental degradation, habitat loss and climate change. The extent to which temperature affect...
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