title: Effects of a Possible Pollinator Crisis on Food Crop Production in Brazil.
abstract: Animal pollinators contribute to human food production and security thereby ensuring an important component of human well-being. The recent decline of these agents in Europe and North America has aroused the concern of a potential global pollinator crisis. In order to prioritize efforts for pollinator conservation, we evaluated the extent to which food production depends on animal pollinators in Brazil-one of the world's agriculture leaders-by comparing cultivated area, produced volume and yield value of major food crops that are pollinator dependent with those that are pollinator non-dependent. In addition, we valued the ecosystem service of pollination based on the degree of pollinator dependence of each crop and the consequence of a decline in food production to the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product and Brazilian food security. A total of 68% of the 53 major food crops in Brazil depend to some degree on animals for pollination. Pollinator non-dependent crops produce a greater volume of food, mainly because of the high production of sugarcane, but the cultivated area and monetary value of pollinator dependent crops are higher (59% of total cultivated area and 68% of monetary value). The loss of pollination services for 29 of the major food crops would reduce production by 16.55-51 million tons, which would amount to 4.86-14.56 billion dollars/year, and reduce the agricultural contribution to the Brazilian GDP by 6.46%- 19.36%. These impacts would be largely absorbed by family farmers, which represent 74.4% of the agricultural labor force in Brazil. The main effects of a pollinator crisis in Brazil would be felt by the poorer and more rural classes due to their lower income and direct or exclusive dependence on this ecosystem service.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.|Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores and Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, México.
authors.forename: Samuel M A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3863-0860
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Novais
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cássio A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natália B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.|Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade - ICMBio, Rondônia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: D Amico
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.|Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States of America.
authors.forename: G Wilson
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores and Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, México.
authors.forename: Maurício
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quesada
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina O
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Neves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000502:physiology*; D005523:Food Supply; D054817:Pollination