Challenges and opportunities for the Quebec cranberry industry: towards better management of wild pollinators

传粉者多样性和丰富度的下降可归因于多种环境压力，包括气候变化、疾病传播和土地利用变化。最近的研究表明，农业集约化大大减少了授粉服务，但需要进行研究，以确定具体的农艺做法，从而导致更大的影响，或者反过来，促进传粉者群落。小红莓是加拿大的一种重要作物，魁北克的小红莓产业发展迅速。小红莓的生产依赖于昆虫提供的授粉服务，种植者大多依靠管理的蜜蜂，如大黄蜂和蜜蜂。然而，管理传粉者正在减少，而且成本越来越高，威胁着该行业的前景。加强野生传粉者可以减少对管理蜜蜂的依赖，但它们在农业生态系统中的持久性既取决于当地的管理做法，也取决于农场周围高质量栖息地的维护。加强野生授粉者的蔓越莓生产实践可以增强该行业对受管理蜜蜂衰退的适应能力，并降低与租用或购买受管理授粉者相关的成本。了解蔓越莓生产所需授粉服务的基本进化和生态方面也可以指导如何使该行业更可持续，并减少作物对生物多样性的生态影响。该项目将评估不同的农场管理做法如何影响野生传粉者群落，以及传粉者系统发育多样性如何转化为最终调节生态系统服务的功能多样性。多项研究量化了传粉者功能和系统发育多样性因土地利用变化而发生的变化，但很少有人试图确定驱动这些变化的具体农艺措施。这一知识可以让种植者、利益相关者和政策制定者了解更可持续的蔓越莓实践，在保持预期作物产量的同时，增加本地传粉者服务，减少大黄蜂和蜜蜂密度。景观简化和农业集约化在减少传粉者多样性方面的作用众所周知，但很少有研究探讨传粉者系统发育、环境、功能特征和传粉服务之间的关系。该项目的创新方面包括：(I)整合分类、功能和系统发育多样性；(Ii)将野生传粉者的功能生态学与农场管理实践和对受管理蜜蜂的需求联系起来；以及(Iii)利用现代基因组和统计方法，对系统发育和功能多样性进行强有力的估计。在这个项目中采样的昆虫将使用所要求的临界点干燥机在麦吉尔·莱曼昆虫学博物馆进行长期存档。该仪器可防止标本萎缩，同时保存其DNA，从而便于鉴定和获取用于系统发育评估的功能特征和基因组数据。通过调查农场管理做法对小红莓田地内和周围本地传粉者群落的影响，项目成果将为魁北克和其他地区的利益相关者和政策制定者提供直接渠道。我们将评估分类、功能和系统发育多样性之间的联系，探索多个生物多样性方面，以全面了解有利于增加农业生态系统中传粉者多样性和生态系统服务的文化实践。这项研究将使利益相关者和政策制定者了解更可持续和对传粉者友好的小红莓做法，以提高农场的盈利能力、行业弹性，并促进更好的农业生态系统管理。

Declines in pollinator diversity and abundance can be attributed to multiple environmental stressors, including climate change, disease spread, and land use change. Recent studies have shown that agricultural intensification greatly reduces pollination services, but research is needed to identify specific agronomic practices that lead to greater impacts, or conversely, promote pollinator communities. Cranberry is an important crop in Canada, and the industry is rapidly growing in Québec. Cranberry production depends on pollination services provided by insects, and growers mostly rely on managed bees, such as bumble and honey bees. Managed pollinators, however, are in decline and increasingly costly, threatening the industry's prospects. Enhancing wild pollinators could reduce dependence on manages bees, but their persistence in agroecosystems depends both on local management practices and the maintenance of high-quality habitats around farms. Cranberry production practices that enhance wild pollinators could strengthen the industry's resilience against managed bees decline and decrease the costs associated with renting or purchasing managed pollinators.Understanding basic evolutionary and ecological aspects of the pollination services required in cranberry production can also inform how to make the industry more sustainable and reduce the crop's ecological impact on biodiversity. This project will assess how different farm management practices affect wild pollinator communities, and how pollinator phylogenetic diversity translates to functional diversity'which ultimately mediates ecosystem services. Multiple studies have quantified changes in the functional and phylogenetic diversity of pollinators due to land-use change, but few have attempted to identify specific agronomic practices driving these changes. This knowledge could inform growers, stakeholders, and policy makers on more sustainable cranberry practices that maintain desired crop yield while simultaneously increasing native pollinator services and decreasing bumble and honey bee density.The role of landscape simplification and agricultural intensification on reducing pollinator diversity is well known, but few studies have examined the relationships among pollinator phylogeny, environment, functional traits, and pollination services. Innovative aspects of this project include: (i) integrating taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity; (ii) linking the functional ecology of wild pollinators to farm management practices and need for managed bees; and (iii) utilizing modern genomic and statistical methods for robust estimates of phylogeny and functional diversity. Insects sampled in this project will be prepared for long-term archival at the McGill Lyman Entomological Museum using the requested critical point dryer. This instrument prevents shrivelling of specimens while also preserving their DNA, thus facilitating their identification and the acquisition of functional traits and genomic data for phylogeny estimation. By investigating the effect of farm management practices on the native pollinator communities in and around cranberry fields, project outcomes will provide a direct channel to stakeholders and policy makers in Quebec and beyond. We will assess linkage between taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity, exploring multiple biodiversity facets for a comprehensive understanding of cultural practices conducive to increasing pollinator diversity and ecosystem services in agroecosystems. This research will inform stakeholders and policy makers on more sustainable and pollinator-friendly cranberry practices that enhance farm profitability, industry resilience, and promote better management of agroecosystems.