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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Pest Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390467
Research Project: Biological Control and Habitat Restoration for Invasive Weed Management

Location: Pest Management Research

Title: A global assessment of the species composition and effectiveness of watermelon pollinators and the management strategies to inform effective pollination service delivery

Author
item SUBASINGHEARACHCHIGE, ERANDI - University Of New England
item EVANS, LISA - Queensland University Of Technology
item Campbell, Joshua
item DELAPLANE, KEITH - University Of Georgia
item SPICER RICE, ELEANOR - Consultant
item CUTTING, BRIAN - Queensland University Of Technology
item KENDALL, LIAM - Lund University
item SAMNEGARD - Lund University
item RADER, ROMINA - University Of New England

Submitted to: Basic and Applied Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/17/2022
Publication Date: 11/20/2022
Citation: Subasinghe Arachchige, E.C., Evans, L.J., Campbell, J.W., Delaplane, K., Spicer Rice, E., Cutting, B.T., Kendall, L.K., Samnegard, Rader, R. 2023. A global assessment of the species composition and effectiveness of watermelon pollinators and the management strategies to inform effective pollination service delivery. Basic and Applied Ecology. 66:50-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.006.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2022.11.006

Interpretive Summary: Watermelon is a global food crop that is completely dependent on insects for pollination. China, Turkey, and India are the major producers but the majority of pollination studies have occurred in the United States. Thus, there are drastic knowledge gaps on watermelon pollinators. We conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis on watermelon flower-visitors and their efficiency. This research identified four key themes to improving pollination in watermelon globally: (1) increasing honey bee densities on crops, (2) introducing other managed pollinators, (3) identifying key wild pollinator taxa to encourage within crops, and (4) improving local and landscape management practices to support pollinators.

Technical Abstract: For many food crops the identity and efficiency of pollinator across key growing regions remains a significant knowledge gap that needs to be addressed before we can develop crop-specific approaches for pollination service delivery and strategies for pollinator conservation. Here, we conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis on watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai), a globally important fruit crop, to identify the floral visitors and their efficiency across different growing regions. We found that 265 different insect species visit watermelon flowers (including 5 orders, 18 families and 75 genera) across 17 countries and 6 continents. Bees and flies were the most abundant flower visitors, with honey bees having the greatest relative abundance, making up 53 % of visitors on average. Honey bees and other bees were equally effective at depositing pollen on stigmas, but varied in effectiveness for fruit set and seed set. Pollination data from global studies appear to be limited for the largest-scale watermelon producers, namely: China, Turkey, and India, with the majority (59 %) of data available from North America. This synthesis identified four key themes to improving pollination in watermelon: increasing honey bee densities on crops, introducing other managed pollinators, identifying key wild pollinator taxa to encourage within crops, and improving local and landscape management practices to support pollinators.