Regard and protect ground-nesting pollinators as part of soil biodiversity.

While the Convention on Biological Diversity employs a habitat-oriented definition of soil biodiversity including all kinds of species living in soil, the Food and Agriculture Organization, since 2002 assigned to safeguard soil biodiversity, excludes them by focusing on species directly providing four ecosystem services contributing to soil quality and functions: nutrient cycling, regulation of water flow and storage, soil structure maintenance and erosion control, and carbon storage and regulation of atmospheric composition. Many solitary wasps and 70% of wild bees nest below ground and require protection during this long and crucial period of their lifecycle. Recent research has demonstrated the extent of threats to which ground-nesting pollinators are exposed, for example, chemicals and deep tillage. Ground-nesting pollinators change soil texture directly by digging cavities, but more importantly by their indirect contribution to soil quality and functions: 87% of all flowering plants require pollinators. Without pollinators, soil would lose all ecosystem services provided by these flowering plants, for example, litter, shade, roots for habitats, and erosion control. Above- and belowground biota are in constant interaction. Therefore, and in line with the Convention's definition, the key stakeholder, the Food and Agriculture Organization should protect ground-nesting pollinators explicitly within soil biodiversity conservation.

Farming with Alternative Pollinators benefits pollinators, natural enemies, and yields, and offers transformative change to agriculture.

Low- and middle-income countries cannot afford reward-based land sparing for wildflower strips to combat pollinator decline. Two small-grant projects assessed, if an opportunity-cost saving land-sharing approach, Farming with Alternative Pollinators, can provide a method-inherent incentive to motivate farmers to protect pollinators without external rewards. The first large-scale Farming-with-Alternative-Pollinators project used seven main field crops in 233 farmer fields of four agro-ecosystems (adequate rainfall, semi-arid, mountainous and oasis) in Morocco. Here we show results: higher diversity and abundance of wild pollinators and lower pest abundance in enhanced fields than in monocultural control fields; the average net-income increase per surface is 121%. The higher income is a performance-related incentive to enhance habitats. The income increase for farmers is significant and the increase in food production is substantial. Higher productivity per surface can reduce pressure on (semi)-natural landscapes which are increasingly used for agriculture. Land-use change additionally endangers biodiversity and pollinators, whereas this new pollinator-protection approach has potential for transformative change in agriculture.

The wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of Morocco.

Morocco is a well known hot-spot of biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin. While some taxa like vascular plants are relatively well recorded, important groups of pollinators like bees are still understudied. This article presents an updated checklist of the bee species of Morocco and includes a summary of global and regional distribution of each species. A total of 961 species belonging to six bee families and 68 genera are recorded: Andrenidae (8 genera, 217 species); Apidae (15 genera, 241 species); Colletidae (2 genera, 74 species), Halictidae (12 genera, 144 species), Megachilidae (28 genera, 271 species) and Melittidae (3 genera, 14 species). Among them, 67 species are recorded for the first time in Morocco. Around 70% of the bee fauna of Morocco consists of widespread Palaearctic species. Only 18% of Moroccan species recorded are restricted to North Africa and 8% are Moroccan single-country endemics (81 species). Afrotropical elements in the Moroccan fauna are few, with only 3% of Morocco species co-occuring in that region. This checklist is intended to stimulate new regional research on bees including their taxonomy and biogeography. As many groups of bees have been understudied, discovery of new species for science and new records for the country can be expected. Additional research including inventorying, monitoring, and integrative taxonomic studies are needed to develop a comprehensive strategy for bee conservation in Morocco.

Climate change enforces to look beyond the plant - the example of pollinators.

Within global crop production 1961-2012, the share of pollinator independent crops increased twofold, but fourfold of pollinator dependent crops. Balanced diets within the boundaries of our planet require even more pollinator dependent crops. Particularly, Low and Middle Income Countries in the drylands produce pollinator dependent crops. However, climate change and agriculture increasingly cause risks for pollinators. Common reward-based seeding of wildflower strips is too expensive for these countries. Breeding towards pollinator independent crops might accelerate loss of pollinators. Recent publications warned that pollinator loss can reduce other ecosystem services supporting crop production. A new alternative approach called Farming with Alternative Pollinators (FAP) might fill the gap. FAP creates on-farm habitable conditions for pollinators and increases productivity and incomes per surface.

Enhancing Legume Ecosystem Services through an Understanding of Plant-Pollinator Interplay.

Legumes are bee-pollinated, but to a different extent. The importance of the plant-pollinator interplay (PPI), in flowering crops such as legumes lies in a combination of the importance of pollination for the production service and breeding strategies, plus the increasing urgency in mitigating the decline of pollinators through the development and implementation of conservation measures. To realize the full potential of the PPI, a multidisciplinary approach is required. This article assembles an international team of genebank managers, geneticists, plant breeders, experts on environmental governance and agro-ecology, and comprises several sections. The contributions in these sections outline both the state of the art of knowledge in the field and the novel aspects under development, and encompass a range of reviews, opinions and perspectives. The first three sections explore the role of PPI in legume breeding strategies. PPI based approaches to crop improvement can make it possible to adapt and re-design breeding strategies to meet both goals of: (1) optimal productivity, based on an efficient use of pollinators, and (2) biodiversity conservation. The next section deals with entomological aspects and focuses on the protection of the "pest control service" and pollinators in legume crops. The final section addresses general approaches to encourage the synergy between food production and pollination services at farmer field level. Two basic approaches are proposed: (a) Farming with Alternative Pollinators and (b) Crop Design System.