Apple Pollination: Demand Depends on Variety and Supply Depends on Pollinator Identity.

Insect pollination underpins apple production but the extent to which different pollinator guilds supply this service, particularly across different apple varieties, is unknown. Such information is essential if appropriate orchard management practices are to be targeted and proportional to the potential benefits pollinator species may provide. Here we use a novel combination of pollinator effectiveness assays (floral visit effectiveness), orchard field surveys (flower visitation rate) and pollinator dependence manipulations (pollinator exclusion experiments) to quantify the supply of pollination services provided by four different pollinator guilds to the production of four commercial varieties of apple. We show that not all pollinators are equally effective at pollinating apples, with hoverflies being less effective than solitary bees and bumblebees, and the relative abundance of different pollinator guilds visiting apple flowers of different varieties varies significantly. Based on this, the taxa specific economic benefits to UK apple production have been established. The contribution of insect pollinators to the economic output in all varieties was estimated to be £92.1M across the UK, with contributions varying widely across taxa: solitary bees (£51.4M), honeybees (£21.4M), bumblebees (£18.6M) and hoverflies (£0.7M). This research highlights the differences in the economic benefits of four insect pollinator guilds to four major apple varieties in the UK. This information is essential to underpin appropriate investment in pollination services management and provides a model that can be used in other entomolophilous crops to improve our understanding of crop pollination ecology.

The identity of crop pollinators helps target conservation for improved ecosystem services.

Insect pollinated mass flowering crops are becoming more widespread and there is a need to understand which insects are primarily responsible for the pollination of these crops so conservation measures can be appropriately targeted in the face of pollinator declines. This study used field surveys in conjunction with cage manipulations to identify the relative contributions of different pollinator taxa to the pollination of two widespread flowering crops, field beans and oilseed rape. Flower visiting pollinator communities observed in the field were distinct for each crop; while field beans were visited primarily by a few bumblebee species, multiple pollinator taxa visited oilseed, and the composition of this pollinator community was highly variable spatially and temporally. Neither pollinator community, however, appears to be meeting the demands of crops in our study regions. Cage manipulations showed that multiple taxa can effectively pollinate both oilseed and field beans, but bumblebees are particularly effective bean pollinators. Combining field observations and cage manipulations demonstrated that the pollination demands of these two mass flowering crops are highly contrasting, one would benefit from management to increase the abundance of some key taxa, whilst for the other, boosting overall pollinator abundance and diversity would be more appropriate. Our findings highlight the need for crop specific mitigation strategies that are targeted at conserving specific pollinator taxa (or group of taxa) that are both active and capable of crop pollination in order to reduce pollination deficits and meet the demands of future crop production.

Preferences of pregnant women and physicians for 2 strategies for prevention of early-onset group B streptococcal sepsis in neonates.

OBJECTIVES: To assess preferences of pregnant women, pediatricians, and obstetricians for the policies of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for reducing the incidence of neonatal group B streptococcal (GBS) sepsis. DESIGN: An interactive interview using a computer-based decision-making model (analytic hierarchy process) and a self-administered survey assessing the interview process. SETTING: An obstetric clinic at a university center and offices of practicing physicians from the Birmingham, Ala, area. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-two pregnant women selected by a systematic sampling technique and 40 pediatricians and 40 obstetricians selected randomly. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Ranking of the ACOG and AAP policies and the 5 criteria on which the decision was based: risk of infection to an infant, knowledge of maternal GBS status, risk of anaphylaxis to mother, diagnostic tests received by healthy infants, and cost. Satisfaction with the interview process also was measured. RESULTS: Eighty-three women (90%), 40 pediatricians, and 40 obstetricians (100%) provided responses suitable for analysis. Sixty-seven pregnant women (81%), 26 pediatricians (65%), and 6 obstetricians (15%) preferred the AAP strategy. The ACOG policy was the preferred strategy by 34 (85%) obstetricians. The 3 groups ranked risk of infection in an infant as the most important criterion in their decisions. Ranks for the other criteria differed among the 3 groups. Women ranked knowledge of maternal GBS status more important than did pediatricians and obstetricians. Thirty obstetricians (75%), 35 pediatricians (87.5%), and 72 pregnant women (86.7%) liked the interview. Seventy-three women (88%), 29 pediatricians (72.5%), and 17 obstetricians (42.5%) thought physicians should use this type of interview to assist in managing patients. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant women, pediatricians, and obstetricians had different priorities when making a decision about GBS policies. These differences led obstetricians to prefer a different policy than that of pediatricians and pregnant women. Obstetricians were less likely to endorse the use of this decision-making technique in their practice than were patients and pediatricians.