Bionomics of insect pollinators and their interaction with host trees in the orchards of Doda, Indian Himalayas

Abstract Insect-mediated pollination is critical to the reproductive success of apple ( Malus domestica ) and apricot ( Prunus armeniaca ), the two principal cash crops sustaining rural livelihoods in the Himalayan district of Doda, Jammu and Kashmir. Despite this dependence, pollinator community ecology and crop-specific interaction patterns across the elevational gradient of the district remain poorly characterized. This study documents community composition, habitat associations, and host-plant interactions for 13 pollinator species across 10 families and 4 orders during the 2025 blooming season; life-history parameters are derived from published literature synthesis rather than direct life-cycle measurement. A total of 847 individuals were recorded by pan trapping and timed focal observations across six sites spanning 1,073–2,302 m above sea level (ASL). Shannon diversity was strongly associated with elevation (R² = 0.913, p < 0.001), with species richness declining from 13 to 5 and total abundance by 71.8% across the gradient. Family-level compositional turnover was pronounced: Apid bees (Apidae) declined from 39.7% to 22.2% relative abundance, while Halictidae increased from 18.1% to 38.2% at high elevations. At the single co-flowering site (L1, 1,073 m ASL), Apid bees significantly preferred apple (43.9% vs. 27.1% of visits on apricot), and hoverflies (Syrphidae) significantly preferred apricot (42.2% vs. 24.5% on apple). Pollinator Effectiveness (PE) scores, a visitation-based behavioral proxy combining visit duration and stigma contact frequency indicated taxon-specific functional complementarity, whereby bees achieved higher PE on apple and hoverflies on apricot. High-elevation networks exhibited greater modularity (Q = 0.46 vs. 0.38) and specialization (H2’ = 0.61 vs. 0.39), with Lasioglossum moroi serving as a cross-module generalist hub. Niche overlap was lower at high elevations (Pianka’s O = 0.31) than at low elevations (O = 0.58), consistent with increased resource partitioning under environmental constraint. These findings provide baseline data for elevation-specific pollinator conservation in Himalayan agroecosystems. Generalizability is constrained by single-season sampling and restriction of crop-comparison analysis to one site.