Most of the world's crops depend on pollinators, so declines in both managed and wild bees raise concerns about food security. However, the degree to which insect pollination is actually limiting current crop production is poorly understood, as is the role of wild species (as opposed to managed honeybees) in pollinating crops, particularly in intensive production areas. We established a nationwide study to assess the extent of pollinator limitation in seven crops at 131 locations situated across major crop-producing areas of the USA. We found that five out of seven crops showed evidence of pollinator limitation. Wild bees and honeybees provided comparable amounts of pollination for most crops, even in agriculturally intensive regions. We estimated the nationwide annual production value of wild pollinators to the seven crops we studied at over $1.5 billion; the value of wild bee pollination of all pollinator-dependent crops would be much greater. Our findings show that pollinator declines could translate directly into decreased yields or production for most of the crops studied, and that wild species contribute substantially to pollination of most study crops in major crop-producing regions.

中文翻译：

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美国的作物生产经常因缺乏授粉媒介而受到限制

世界上大部分作物都依赖传粉媒介，因此管理蜜蜂和野生蜜蜂的减少都引发了人们对粮食安全的担忧。然而，人们对昆虫授粉实际上限制当前作物生产的程度知之甚少，野生物种（与受管理的蜜蜂相反）在授粉作物中的作用也是如此，特别是在集约化生产区。我们建立了一项全国性研究，以评估位于美国主要作物产区的 131 个地点的七种作物的传粉媒介限制程度。我们发现七分之五的作物显示出传粉媒介限制的证据。野生蜜蜂和蜜蜂为大多数作物提供了相当数量的授粉，即使在农业密集地区也是如此。我们估计我们研究的七种作物的野生传粉媒介在全国的年产值超过 15 亿美元；野生蜜蜂对所有依赖传粉媒介的作物进行授粉的价值会大得多。我们的研究结果表明，授粉媒介的减少可能直接转化为所研究的大多数作物的产量或产量下降，并且野生物种对主要作物产区的大多数研究作物的授粉做出了重大贡献。