title: An Economic Valuation of Biotic Pollination Services in Georgia.
abstract: As agriculture faces documented decline in bees and other insect pollinators, empirical assessments of potential economic losses are critical for contextualizing the impacts of this decline and for prioritizing research needs. For the state of Georgia, we show that the annual economic value of biotic pollinators is substantial--US$367 million, equivalent to 13 percent of the total production value of crops studied and 3 percent of the total production value of Georgia's agricultural sector. Our unique Geographic Information Systems analysis reveals an irregular pattern of vulnerability. While the Georgia counties displaying the highest economic values of pollination are clustered in southern Georgia, those with the highest dependency on pollinators in terms of their contribution to crop production value are more dispersed throughout the state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, 147 Cedar St., Athens, GA 30602. Corresponding author, e-mail: adro88@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Ashley S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Barfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, 147 Cedar St., Athens, GA 30602.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bergstrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, 147 Cedar St., Athens, GA 30602.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: College of Ecology, University of Georgia, 140 E. Green St., Athens, GA 30602.
authors.forename: Alan P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Covich
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, 120 Cedar St., Athens, GA 30602.
authors.forename: Keith S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Delaplane
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000191:economics*; D005845:Georgia; D018803:Models, Economic; D054817:Pollination
keywords: Apis mellifera; Geographic Information System; agriculture; bee population; pollination value