<
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/macadamia-nuts-pollinators-pests-ecosystem/>
'If you're enjoying a particularly good batch of macadamia nuts, you might have
a cohort of bees, bats, and birds to thank for it.
A research team led by two German universities discovered that the
aforementioned animals play key roles in pollination and biological pest
control that boost the quantity and quality of macadamia nuts.
The international team published its findings in the
Ecological Applications
journal. The researchers' work highlights how sustainable agriculture
leveraging ecosystem services can help growers avoid overreliance on damaging
alternative solutions like pesticide use.
To better understand how the animals worked, the scientists studied orchards in
South Africa.
What they found was that pollinators like bees raised macadamia yields by an
average of 525% for the set of "final nuts" counted well after plants flowered.
Meanwhile, insect damage to nuts was reduced by an average of 40% by bats and
birds that feasted on pests.
The research also uncovered different factors for how effective the animals and
insects were in their roles.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
