1. Pollinator monitoring more than pays for itself
- Author
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Rory S. O'Connor, Richard Comont, Mark Jitlal, Michael Edwards, Jodey Peyton, Kelvin Balcombe, Andy J. Musgrove, Paul Lee, Alison Bailey, Simon G. Potts, Michael P.D. Garratt, Martin Harvey, Adam J. Vanbergen, Tom D. Breeze, Roger Morris, Tom Brereton, Cathy Hawes, Catherine M. Jones, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Nick J. B. Isaac, David B. Roy, Helen E. Roy, Claire Carvell, Cuong Q. Tang, William E. Kunin, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Department Land Management and Systems, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand, Butterfly Conservation, Wareham, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Edwards Ecological and Data Services Ltd, Wallingford, UK, School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences [Milton Keynes], Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [Milton Keynes], The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU)-The Open University [Milton Keynes] (OU), The James Hutton Institute, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology [Wallingford] (CEH), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Buglife the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Orton Waterville, UK, Department of Biology, Leeds University, Leeds, UK, Hymettus, Wallingford, UK, Hoverfly Recording Scheme, Wallingford, UK, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), NatureMetrics, Agroécologie [Dijon], Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), UK Centre for Ecology HydrologyScottish GovernmentWelsh GovernmentUK Research & Innovation (UKRI)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) NE/R016429/1, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK, Butterfly Conservation, Wareham, UK, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Stirling, UK, School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK, CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY WALLINGFORD UK, Partenaires IRSTEA, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK., British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, UK, and NatureMetrics Ltd, Egham, UK
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0106 biological sciences ,Pollination ,[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes ,power analysis ,ecological economics ,pollination services ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Ecology and Environment ,[SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems ,Pollinator ,Economic cost ,Baseline (configuration management) ,science polic ,biodiversity policy ,Service (business) ,Data collection ,Ecology ,Cost–benefit analysis ,business.industry ,[SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Environmental resource management ,15. Life on land ,[SDV.BA.ZI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Invertebrate Zoology ,Data quality ,biodiversity monitoring ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences ,pollinators ,Business ,cost–benefit analysis ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology - Abstract
International audience; This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.1. Resilient pollination services depend on sufficient abundance of pollinating insects over time. Currently, however, most knowledge about the status and trends of pollinators is based on changes in pollinator species richness and distribution only.2. Systematic, long-term monitoring of pollinators is urgently needed to provide baseline information on their status, to identify the drivers of declines and to inform suitable response measures.3. Power analysis was used to determine the number of sites required to detect a 30% change in pollinator populations over 10 years. We then evaluated the full economic costs of implementing four national monitoring schemes in the UK: (a) professional pollinator monitoring, (b) professional pollination service monitoring, (c) volunteer collected pan traps and (d) volunteer focal floral observations. These costs were compared to (a) the costs of implementing separate, expert-designed research and monitoring networks and (b) the economic benefits of pollination services threatened by pollinator loss.4. Estimated scheme costs ranged from £6,159/year for a 75-site volunteer focal flower observation scheme to £2.7 M/year for an 800-site professional pollination service monitoring network. The estimated research costs saved using the site network as research infrastructure range from £1.46–4.17 M/year. The economic value of UK crop yield lost following a 30% decline in pollinators was estimated at ~£188 M/year.5. Synthesis and applications. We evaluated the full costs of running pollinator monitoring schemes against the economic benefits to research and society they provide. The annual costs of monitoring are
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- 2021