The importance of natural habitats in the surroundings of dwarf cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) plantation for its reproductive success

Abstract

Agriculture expansion has led to changes in natural habitats and pollinator reduction. Changes in the landscape may be causing low cashew fruit set. Our aim was to assess the importance of natural habitat conservation to the provision of pollinators for cultivated cashew. The study was carried out in Horizonte, Ceará, Brazil, from July to December 2011, in two similar orchards. We collected all Horal visitors and reported the fruit set in cashew crops near fragments of native vegetation at different distances. Our results show that cashew depends on insect visits to produce fruit, and that bees and wasps were the main visitors. Distance to the fragments did not affect fruit production, but the quality of the natural habitat inñuenced the richness and abundance of Horal visitors affecting cashew reproductive success.