Abstract

The study by Barahona-Segovia et al. (2023) examines the influence of edge effect, landscape composition, and local characteristics on non-bee flower visitors in apple orchards. While their article improves our understanding of ecosystem dynamics in agricultural landscapes, it has important limitations regarding the importance of non-flower visitors as pollinators and their ability to compensate for declines in wild bee populations. The study does not address the distinction between flower visitors and true pollinators, relying on indirect measures such as contact with flower reproductive parts and visitation rate as proxies for pollinator effectiveness. Therefore, the authors fail to measure the basic definition of pollination: the act of transferring pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of a flower. Thus, the methodology used and the results of the study do not support the effectiveness of non-bees as pollinators compared to wild bees. The authors should have been cautions in extrapolating the conclusions of their study for orchard management strategies. Further studies with solid evidence are needed to quantify the contribution of non-bee pollinators to crop pollination and to allow a fair comparison between bees and non-bee visitors.