Pollinators provide an essential service to natural ecosystems and agriculture. In tomatoes flowers, anthers are poricidal, pollen may drop from their pore when flowers are shaken by the wind. However, bees that vibrate these anthers increase pollen load on the stigma and in fruit production. The present study aimed to identify the pollinator richness of tomato flowers and investigate their morphological and functional traits related to the plant-pollinator interaction in plantations of Central Brazil. The time of anthesis, flower duration, and the number and viability of pollen grains and ovules were recorded. Floral visitors were observed and collected. Flower buds opened around 6h30 and closed around 18h00. They reopened on the following day at the same time in the morning, lasting on average 48 hours. The highest pollen availability occurred during the first hours of anthesis. Afterwards, the number of pollen grains declined, especially between 10h00 to 12h00, which is consistent with the pollinator visitation pattern. Forty bee species were found in the tomato fields, 30 of which were considered pollinators. We found that during the flowering period, plants offered an enormous amount of pollen to their visitors. These may explain the high richness and amount of bees that visit the tomato flowers in the study areas. The period of pollen availability and depletion throughout the day overlapped with the bees foraging period, suggesting that bees are highly effective in removing pollen grains from anthers. Many of these grains probably land on the stigma of the same flower, leading to self-pollination and subsequent fruit development. Native bees (Exomalopsis spp.) are effective pollinators of tomato flowers and are likely to contribute to increasing crop productivity. On the other hand, here tomato flowers offer large amounts of pollen resource to a high richness and amount of bees, showing a strong plant-pollinator interaction in the study agroecosystem.

Evidence shows that pollinator abundance has declined and, consequently, so has their services, which has possible negative impacts on ecosystem functioning. The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of landscape context at multiple spatial scales on the abundance of bee pollinators of tomato crops in Brazil. Pollinator abundance was obtained from tomato crops grown in a conventional system in the Cerrado region. Around each tomato field circular buffers of 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 km radius were defined. Inside each buffer the landscapes were manually classified into native and non-native cover and, the proportion of native vegetation, the relative largest patch size, and the distance of the nearest native vegetation to each field were calculated. Pollinator species were categorized into five groups: Exomalopsis, Centris, Bombus/Eulaema, Halictidae, and all buzz pollinators combined (Buzzers). The results showed that the landscape context influenced the abundance of the five groups of tomato pollinators. Bees with a smaller body size, such as Exomalopsis spp., responded at smaller scales, while bees with a larger body size, such as the Centris and Bombus/Eulaema groups, responded at larger scales. The abundance of all pollinator groups increased with native vegetation cover. Most groups showed higher abundances in landscapes with similar-size fragments. The results reinforce the recommendation for maintaining natural habitats around crop areas, even if fragmented, for the conservation of the tomato pollinator assemblage. These findings are valuable for planning landscape management in the studied area to improve bee conservation, ecosystem services, and food production.

The pollination of tomatoes in greenhouses using bees (especially Bombus species) has increased worldwide, providing increased productivity. However, no concrete initiative has been carried out with bees for tomato pollination on a commercial scale, in greenhouses in Brazil. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate Melipona quadrifasciata efficiency in pollination and consequent production of tomatoes of different growth habits in greenhouse environment. Two experiments were conducted. The pollen load of the creeping tomato (determined growth) flowers and the fruit quality was quantified in the first experiment, in the greenhouse cultivation treatments with bees, without bees, and in the open environment. In the second experiment, the treatments were carried out with tomato of indeterminate growth in greenhouse with bees and without bees. The bees presented foraging behavior and visitation to tomato flowers. The pollen load for the determined tomato was 433% larger in a closed environment with bees when compared with results obtained in the greenhouse without bees. Fruits produced in greenhouses with bees presented 15% more fresh mass and 41.1% more seeds, than the fruit produced in an open environment. Seed production for indetermined growth tomato was 33% higher when the flower was pollinated and the tomato mass increased up to 16%. The results show the importance of using M. quadrifasciata for pollination in a greenhouse environment. Native bees for pollination of agricultural crops in greenhouse showed promising results, especially for the tomato crop, which is benefited by pollination.

The crop-livestock-forest integration systems are a form of sustainable production, creating a consortium between the cultivation of crops and forest production and the creation of pastures for livestock breeding, seeking a synergy between the system components. Therefore, integrating agricultural crops with tree species provides countless benefits to the components, such as the maintenance and increase in nutrient cycling. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the biomass and nutritional stock of Brachiaria pasture and accumulated litter in a silvopastoral system with tree species of the Cerrado. Three silvopastoral systems, formed with the forage species Urochloa decumbens (Brachiaria) integrated with three tree species, namely Dipteryx alata (baru tree), Caryocar brasiliense (pequi) and Eugenia dysenterica (cagaita), were evaluated. Litter and pasture were collected in each system at different sample distances from the tree. The amount of biomass and the nutritional contents of both components were evaluated by chemical analysis. The largest amount Brachiaria pasture biomass and largest amount of litter was found in the silvopastoral system with baru trees. The pasture differed nutritionally. The pastures associated with baru trees and to pequis have higher amounts of macronutrients. There are nutritional differences with respect to the sampling positions. Key words: Brachiaria, Baru, Pequi, Cagaita, CLFi, Cerrado, Brazil.