Krishnan, Smitha and Kushalappa, Cheppudira G. and R, Uma Shaanker and Ghazoul, Jaboury (2012) Status of pollinators and their efficiency in coffee fruit set in a fragmented landscape mosaic in South India. Basic and Applied Ecology, 13. pp. 277-285.
BAE_Uma_Vol.13_2012.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Registered users only
Download (242kB) | Request a copy
Abstract
The region of Kodagu, South India, comprises a fragmented landscape with a high density of remnant forest patches dispersed within a mosaic dominated by shaded coffee agro-forests. We evaluated the role of self, wind and insect pollination to Coffea canephora production in this landscape. The giant Asian honeybee, Apis dorsata, which nests in remnant forests, was the main pollinator of coffee (accounting for 58% of the floral visitors). The proportion of flowers that developed into fruits was highest when hand cross-pollinated (44%), followed by open- (insect and wind combined; 33%) and wind- (22.1%) pollination treatments. Pollination by bees therefore increases fruit production by 50% over that achieved by wind. Self-pollination (1.7%) and no pollination (1%) treatments produced very lowfruit set, emphasizing the importance of cross-pollination in C. canephora. Unlike measures of pollination success, initial fruit set (five weeks after flowering) proved an unreliable proxy for final fruit set. Size of adjoining forest fragments (mostly 0.3–20 ha, with a few exceeding 200 ha) positively influenced pollinator visitation to coffee flowers, but distance to such fragments had no influence on pollination. This study demonstrates the importance of cross-pollination for crop production in C. canephora, the important contribution that pollinating insects make to coffee production, and the benefits of relatively large forest fragments within the landscape mosaic to support insect pollinators of coffee. A comparison of pollinator composition to that of 100 years ago indicated that coffee pollination services remained intact despite changes in pollinator community composition.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Copyright of this article belongs to the Gesellschaft für Ökologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Bees, Coffea canephora, Landscape mosaic, Pollen tube, Pollination services, Pollination success, Seed set |
| Subjects: | A ATREE Publications > G Journal Papers |
| Divisions: | SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation > Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning |
| Depositing User: | Ms Library Staff |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Nov 2025 11:01 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2026 10:20 |
| URI: | http://archives.atree.org/id/eprint/651 |
Dimensions
Dimensions