This interdisciplinary project is designed to create species-specific data showing how pollinator species move pollen, and which genotype(s) of pollen they carry, as this determines yield and nutritional quality. Further, this project is dedicated to assessing whether mixed cropping of genotypes can affect pollination services by measuring genotype-specific floral traits and associating traits with variation in pollinator visitations. This will create a mechanistic understanding of pollinator movement, necessary to develop ecological intensification strategies that use genotypes with specific flower traits to strategically attract and retain the most efficient pollinators.
The outcome of this research has scientific, economic, and societal impact, by delivering strategies to make food systems more productive while maintaining biodiversity and environmental sustainability, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal Zero Hunger, instead of succumbing to the rising demands on agriculture.
Fig. 1: Agrobiodiversity affects the genotype of pollen carried, fruit quality and yield across rows