Solving the cacao pollinator puzzle: New insights into pollinator identity and ecology

Description

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is an important tropical cash crop, sustaining the livelihood of 40-50 million farmers globally and driving a $10 billion cacao bean industry. Recent work has shown that pollination is a limiting factor for production. However, current attempts to enhance pollination have remained unsuccessful since the exact identity and breeding habitats of the pollinator species involved in the three global cocoa production areas remain controversial, and the factors that determine their abundances unknown. This hinders the development of effective management strategies for increased pollination. Our proposed conservative approach aims to confirm the identity of cacao pollinators. Given the high cryptic diversity, DNA barcoding is the only way to pin down which species pollinate and find out where they reproduce. Additionally, we seek insights into pollinator ecological niches by analysing phenology and environmental requirements. Field surveys in Nicaragua, Peru, French Guiana, and Malaysia have provided valuable data. Our findings reveal midges as the primary insect group visiting cacao flowers, displaying remarkable diversity across families. We successfully identified micro-habitats within plantations where these flower visitors emerge. We found substantial
differences in the pollinating potential between the different groups of flower visitors. In conclusion, our study challenges prior research, uncovering a more restricted range of taxa involved in cacao flower pollination. This discovery lays the groundwork for sustainable management practices to enhance cacao pollinator presence and abundance in plantations.

Periode	14 feb 2024
Gehouden op	Society for Tropical Ecology [gtö], Germany
Mate van erkenning	International