Plant choice beneficial to crop pollinators: The application of genetic algorithms

Abstract

Biotic pollination is an essential ecosystem service, as a significant portion of crops produced for human consumption rely on it to increase both quantity and quality of fruits and seeds. Worldwide, the agricultural area for pollinator-dependent crops is expanding, exacerbating the pollination crisis due to declining diversity of pollinators. Restoring agricultural landscapes using plants in field edges could enhance pollinator abundance. Given the numerous plant species po-tentially eligible to form these new communities, creating an optimal mix for a specific crop presents an agronomic challenge. In this study, a genetic algorithm was developed to select an optimal mix of five plants that promotes the highest diversity of pollinators in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) crops. Using a meta-network composed of 33 plant species and 31 bee species as input data, the dimension of the interaction network was reduced while maintaining the maximum number of pollinator species possible.