Articles | Volume 21, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-21-15-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-21-15-2021
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12 Jan 2021
Standard article | Highlight paper |  | 12 Jan 2021

Ecological correlates of crop yield growth and interannual yield variation at a global scale

Gabriela Gleiser, Nicolay Leme da Cunha, Agustín Sáez, and Marcelo Adrián Aizen

Cited articles

Aizen, M. A. and Harder, L. D.: The global stock of domesticated honey bees is growing slower than agricultural demand for pollination, Curr. Biol., 19, 915–918, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.03.071, 2009. 
Aizen, M. A., Garibaldi, L. A., Cunningham, S. A., and Klein, A. M.: Long-term global trends in crop yield and production reveal no current pollination shortage but increasing pollinator dependency, Curr. Biol., 18, 1572–1575, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.08.066, 2008. 
Aizen, M. A., Aguiar, S., Biesmeijer, J. C., Garibaldi, L. A., Inouye, D. W., Jung, C., Martins, D. J., Medel, R., Morales, C. L., Ngo, H., Pauw, A., Paxton, R. J., Sáez, A., and Seymour, C. L.: Global agricultural productivity is threatened by increasing pollinator dependence without a parallel increase in crop diversification, Glob. Change Biol., 25, 3516–3527, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14736, 2019. 
Al-Obaidi, J. R., Farouq Halabi, M., AlKhalifah, N. S., Asanar, S., Al-Soqeer, A. A., and Attia, M. F.: A review on plant importance, biotechnological aspects, and cultivation challenges of jojoba plant, Biol. Res., 50, 25, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40659-017-0131-x, 2017. 
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, Chase, M. W., Christenhusz, M. J. M., Fay, M. F., Byng, J. W., Judd, W. S., Soltis, D. E., Mabberley, D. J., Sennikov, A. N., Soltis, P. S., and Stevens, P. F.: An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV, Bot. J. Linn. Soc., 181, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1111/boj.12385, 2016. 
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Short summary
Human population growth imposes increasing demands on crop yield (i.e., crop production per unit area). Worryingly, first signs of yield deceleration and stagnation were reported. In our study we show how crop cultivation region, type of harvested organ, pollinator dependency, and life form affect yield growth and/or stability of globally important crops. Our results together advocate for a more diverse agriculture involving the cultivation of different crops with different ecological features.