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Rapid assessment of pollinators'status

A contribution to the international initiative for the conservation and sustainable use of pollinators








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    Book (stand-alone)
    Pollination services for sustainable agriculture 2008
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    Pollinators are essential for orchard, horticultural and forage production, as well as the production of seed for many root and fibre crops. Pollinators such as bees, birds and bats affect 35 percent of the world’s crop production, increasing outputs of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide. Food security, food diversity, human nutrition and food prices all rely strongly on animal pollinators. The consequences of pollinator declines are likely to impact the production and costs of vitamin-rich crops like fruits and vegetables, leading to increasingly unbalanced diets and health problems. Maintaining and increasing yields in horticultural crops under agricultural development is critically important to health, nutrition, food security and better farm incomes for poor farmers. In the past, pollination has been provided by nature at no explicit cost to human communities. As farm fields have become larger, and the use of agricultural chemicals has increased, mounting evidence points to a p otentially serious decline in populations of pollinators under agricultural development.
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    The pollination services of forests
    A review of forest and landscape interventions to enhance their cross-sectoral benefits
    2020
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    Most flowering plants, including wild species and many food crops, are pollinated by animals and are vital, therefore, for biological production and the maintenance of biodiversity. Pollinators benefit from diverse natural habitats for forage and nesting, especially when these are limited in plant production systems. Landscape and forest management practices can help ensure the continued availability of pollinators and thereby increase resilience and the productivity of forestry and agriculture. The extent of forests and other natural habitats in a landscape plays a role in determining the species composition of pollinators. Agricultural landscapes adjoining fragmented forests and natural areas benefit from pollinator services, and animal-pollinated crops therefore achieve higher fruit set. Forest management practices can have significant effects on pollinator abundance and diversity. They affect forest variables such as structure, species composition, soil dynamics, hydrology and light availability, all of which can affect pollinator species composition and diversity and plant–pollinator networks. Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to the conservation of pollinators through traditional management practices. This working paper, which is aimed at forest practitioners, landscape planners and land-use decision-makers, reviews published literature on the impacts of forest and landscape management practices on pollinators. It also addresses the implications of climate change, collates 36 case studies, and makes recommendation on measures for maintaining pollinator diversity and abundance in forests and landscapes.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Crops, Weeds and Pollinators
    Understanding Ecological Interactions for Better Management
    2015
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    This publication looks at managing agricultural systems through an ecological approach, building upon beneficial biological interactions and finding positive synergies between pollination and weed management. These two aspects of agriculture consist of a multitude of interactions, both beneficial and harmful for the farmer and agriculture in general. If the practices applied to effectively control weeds can also benefit pollinators, there may be multiple benefits. As part of FAO ’s “Global Actio n on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture”, this publication was prepared in collaboration with experts to develop sound advice aimed for a wide range of countries and contexts to sustainably promote the twin goals of weed and pollinator management.

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