High species richness of native pollinators in Brazilian tomato crops

Abstract

Pollinators provide an essential service to natural ecosystems and agriculture. In tomatoes flowers, anthers are poricidal, pollen may drop from their pore when flowers are shaken by the wind. However, bees that vibrate these anthers increase pollen load on the stigma and in fruit production. The present study aimed to identify the pollinator richness of tomato flowers and investigate their morphological and functional traits related to the plant-pollinator interaction in plantations of Central Brazil. The time of anthesis, flower duration, and the number and viability of pollen grains and ovules were recorded. Floral visitors were observed and collected. Flower buds opened around 6h30 and closed around 18h00. They reopened on the following day at the same time in the morning, lasting on average 48 hours. The highest pollen availability occurred during the first hours of anthesis. Afterwards, the number of pollen grains declined, especially between 10h00 to 12h00, which is consistent with the pollinator visitation pattern. Forty bee species were found in the tomato fields, 30 of which were considered pollinators. We found that during the flowering period, plants offered an enormous amount of pollen to their visitors. These may explain the high richness and amount of bees that visit the tomato flowers in the study areas. The period of pollen availability and depletion throughout the day overlapped with the bees foraging period, suggesting that bees are highly effective in removing pollen grains from anthers. Many of these grains probably land on the stigma of the same flower, leading to self-pollination and subsequent fruit development. Native bees (Exomalopsis spp.) are effective pollinators of tomato flowers and are likely to contribute to increasing crop productivity. On the other hand, here tomato flowers offer large amounts of pollen resource to a high richness and amount of bees, showing a strong plant-pollinator interaction in the study agroecosystem.Keywords: agroecosystem, buzz pollination, Exomalopsis, poricidal anther, Solanum lycopersicum L. Alta riqueza de espécies de polinizadores nativos em plantações Brasileiras de tomateiro ResumoPolinizadores fornecer um serviço essencial para os ecossistemas naturais e para agricultura.

Importance of bees in pollination of Solanum lycopersicum L. (Solanaceae) in open-field of the Southeast of Minas Gerais State, Brazil

“…Exomalopsis analis was also the most frequent in other studies with tomato in conventional crop (Macias-Macias et al 2009, Silva-Neto et al 2013, Deprá et al 2014, Santos et al 2014, Silva-Neto et al 2016. The high frequency of Exomalopsis analis is probably related to the fact that this species nests in soil aggregations, where in each one, several females use the same entrance (Michener 2006).…”

“…In these studies, the main species of bees considered to be pollinators were those of the genera Bombus (Dogterom et al 1998, Velthuis 2002, MalagodiBraga 2005, Palma et al 2007, Vergara & FonsecaBuendía 2012, Melipona (Del Sarto et al 2005, Bispo dos Santos et al 2009, Nunes-Silva et al 2010, Nanotrigona (Cauch et al 2004, Palma et al 2007 and Xylocopa (Velthuis 2002). In addition, there are few studies upon the open field (Macias-Macias et al 2009, Santos & Nascimento 2011, Silva-Neto et al 2013, Silva-Neto et al 2016.…”

Buzz‐pollination in Neotropical bees: genus‐dependent frequencies and lack of optimal frequency for pollen release

“…Although the assessments were performed on flowers at the peak of pollen release, the (reduced) pollen release expected on younger, older, or moist flowers should remain consistent within the range of buzz frequencies and amplitudes assessed retaining the same trend observed in our study. Regardless of the amount of pollen available for release, the tomato flowers are efficiently pollinated through buzz‐pollination receiving visit of a range of pollinator species (e.g., Santos et al ., ; Silva‐Neto et al ., ; Vinícius‐Silva et al ., ). Our playback results confirmed the efficient pollen release by tomato flowers when subjected to vibration at a range of amplitude and frequencies.…”

A Spinosad-Based Formulation Reduces the Survival and Alters the Behavior of the Stingless Bee Plebeia lucii

“…Their geographic distribution, populous colonies, and species richness and abundance in different ecosystems make stingless bees the main group of wild pollinators in tropical regions (Roubik 2006, Giannini et al 2015. Moreover, many species have morphological and behavioral adaptations that enhance their capacity to pollinate specific plants, for instance, through buzz pollination (Greenleaf & Kremen 2006, Caro et al 2017, Silva-Neto et al 2016. Therefore, the use of pesticides in crop systems can contaminate stingless bees and reduce pollination service (Lima et al 2016).…”