title: Global malnutrition overlaps with pollinator-dependent micronutrient production.
abstract: Pollinators contribute around 10% of the economic value of crop production globally, but the contribution of these pollinators to human nutrition is potentially much higher. Crops vary in the degree to which they benefit from pollinators, and many of the most pollinator-dependent crops are also among the richest in micronutrients essential to human health. This study examines regional differences in the pollinator dependence of crop micronutrient content and reveals overlaps between this dependency and the severity of micronutrient deficiency in people around the world. As much as 50% of the production of plant-derived sources of vitamin A requires pollination throughout much of Southeast Asia, whereas other essential micronutrients such as iron and folate have lower dependencies, scattered throughout Africa, Asia and Central America. Micronutrient deficiencies are three times as likely to occur in areas of highest pollination dependence for vitamin A and iron, suggesting that disruptions in pollination could have serious implications for the accessibility of micronutrients for public health. These regions of high nutritional vulnerability are understudied in the pollination literature, and should be priority areas for research related to ecosystem services and human well-being.
authors.affiliation: Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA bchaplin@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaplin-Kramer
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dombeck
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Knuth
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: School on Public Health, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware St. SE Mmc88, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ziv
authors.affiliation: Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstraße 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra-Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D054817:Pollination; D015995:Prevalence; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D018977:Micronutrients; D014131:Trace Elements
keywords: agriculture; ecosystem services; global; nutrition; pollination; spatial