Of the many goods and services provided by ecosystems that are crucial to humans and their industries, one critical service with high economic value is pollination by insects. A lack of this service would be a significant detriment to ecosystem biodiversity and function, but also to human nutrition and the United States national economy. Agricultural sectors and related sectors (fiber, drugs, and fuel) are directly and indirectly dependent on insect-mediated pollination by both commercially-managed species and wild species of bees and other insects. Production of pollination-dependent crops has increased at a faster rate (50-62%) than the global population of managed bees (45%) as many stress factors influence the fitness of pollinators around the world. In addition, the abundance and biodiversity of wild insects suffer in all regions, including natural protection areas. This disparity between production demand and pollinator supply is a concern nutritionally as well as economically, especially in Europe and North America which are particularly vulnerable as pollinator stocks in these regions decline. Previous work on the economic value of insect pollination has spanned many cultivars of crops across diverse landscapes around the globe, and previous estimates differ among sources without reconciliation and lacking bounds of uncertainty and high spatial resolution. The present work aims to address the shortcomings of previous estimates by developing an understanding of the dependence and associated uncertainty of the U.S. economy on pollination services by insects, focusing on crops grown in the United States, at a higher spatial resolution than previously explored.
Results/Conclusions
Using field study data on pollination of specific crops available in the literature, we quantify economic dependence of crops in the United States on pollination services by insects, updating existing coefficients of dependence when possible, bounding uncertainty of estimates, and limiting the scope to U.S. landscapes. Data compiled at a national, state, and county level, considers the spatial relationship between the economic value of pollination, region-specific pollinator forage suitability, and crop-specific agricultural areas. Price and production data integration reveal areas of the U.S. which are highly dependent on pollination service by insects as well as those areas most vulnerable to decline. The implications of these findings include directing conservation and suitable forage revitalization efforts, advising future policy development, and supporting the incorporation of valuable ecosystem goods and services as a component of life cycle assessment.