@article{01KA8MBSSFBHA8QSJHWA0B4458,
  abstract     = {{Apple is one of the most important pollinator-dependent fruit crops worldwide. To secure high-quality yields, it is crucial to know which, and to what extent, pollinating insects contribute to its pollination success as measured by fruit set, fruit weight and seed set. We perform a meta-analysis of field studies conducted across multiple orchards on insect-mediated pollination in apple cultivation, using raw data from 29 studies, totalling 532 orchard replicates. We assessed the extent of pollen limitation on different pollination outcomes and assessed the contribution of honeybees, wild bees and bee species richness to apple pollination. Across all studies, we detected strong evidence of pollen limitation for fruit set and seed set, but not for fruit weight. Honeybees were the most abundant flower visitors (average relative visitation of 71.9%) compared to wild bees; but when correcting for their pollination efficiency, the relative pollination contribution of honeybees was lower compared to their relative visitation (vice versa for solitary bees). We conclude that honeybee visitation rate did not influence fruit or seed set; yet increasing honeybee visitation had a small, negative effect on fruit weight. Fruit set was not influenced by wild bee visitation rate, whereas wild bee visitation had a small, but clear positive effect on fruit weight and seed set. Bee species richness had a small, positive effect on seed set; whereas it did not affect fruit set and fruit weight. Syntheses and applications. Our study highlights that pollen limitation is common in this global crop. While managed honeybees are dominant pollinators, a diverse community of wild bees contributes significantly to apple pollination and high-quality yield. The positive effect of wild bees and species richness on fruit weight and seed set demonstrates that wild bee pollination results in better-quality fruit production (increased weight & seed set). Therefore, our synthesis highlights the importance of conserving pollinator diversity to maintain pollination services. The absence of a clear effect of honeybee visitation rate on fruit and seed set, coupled with its negative impact on fruit weight, suggests a need for further optimisation of honeybee management to improve the cost-efficiency of pollination management.}},
  author       = {{Eeraerts, Maxime and Osterman, Julia and Batáry, Péter and Klein, Alexandra‐Maria and Albrecht, Matthias and Andersson, Georg K. S. and Báldi, András and Bernauer, Olivia M. and Blechschmidt, Leah and Blitzer, Eleanor J. and Borges, Paulo A. V. and Bosch, Jordi and Burns, Katherine L. W. and Campbell, Alistair J. and Castro, Sílvia and Cook, James M. and Daelemans, Robin and Danforth, Bryan N. and de Groot, Arjen G. and Dorji, Kinley and Földesi, Rita and Gaines Day, Hannah R. and García, Daniel and Garibaldi, Lucas A. and Garratt, Michael P. D. and Gonzalez, Andrew and Grab, Heather and Gratton, Claudio and Halvorsen, Maren Kristine and Hambäck, Peter A. and Hatteland, Bjørn Arild and Honnay, Olivier and Hulsmans, Eva and Vestheim, Sandra Kaasen and Kleijn, David and Kovács‐Hostyánszki, Anikó and Lechowicz, Martin J. and Leclercq, Nicolas and Liu, Yunhui and Loureiro, João and Mallinger, Rachel E. and Marshall, Leon and Meeus, Ivan and Miñarro, Marcos and Nabaes Jodar, Diego N. and Pardo, Adara and Park, Mia G. and Paxton, Robert J. and Pérez‐Méndez, Néstor and Pincante De Carvalho, Rafael A. and Pirttilehto, Paavo and Pisman, Matti and Potts, Simon G. and Raine, Nigel E. and Reilly, James R. and Roquer‐Beni, Laura and Samnegård, Ulrika and Stanley, Dara A. and Sutter, Louis and Teixeira‐Martins, Kyle and Tierney, Simon M. and Veldtman, Ruan and Vereecken, Nicolas J. and Wäckers, Felix and Weekers, Timothy and Wilson, Julianna K. and Wu, Panlong and Verheyen, Kris}},
  issn         = {{0021-8901}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY}},
  keywords     = {{Apis mellifera,crop production,fruit set,Malus spp.,meta-analysis,seed set,systematic review,wild pollinators,SEED NUMBER,CROP YIELD,FRUIT-SET,DEPOSITION,QUALITY,WATER}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{2487--2501}},
  title        = {{Global synthesis of apple pollination research highlights general pollen limitation and positive contributions of wild bees compared to honeybees}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70155}},
  volume       = {{62}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

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