Pollination. Two different methods were used to value insect pollination (entomophily) as ecosystem service. First method was avoided cost method proposed by scientists of Wageningen University and Research 45 which requires spatial modelling and as a second method benefit transfer method was used. Insect pollination is the transfer of pollen within and between flowers by insects. Pollination is a key ecological function facilitating reproduction in 78% of temperate flowering plants.46 These plants underpin the function of a range of ecosystem services, such as food crop production, soil quality, pest regulation and improving landscape aesthetics.47 About 90% of the world's flowering plants and about 75% of the world's leading crops depend on insect pollination. These crops represent a total of 35% of world production and, without pollination, crop production would be up to 90% lower. 48,49,50,51 84 out of 264 horticultural crops in Europe need insect pollination.3 Pollination increases the production of seeds of self-pollinating crops (e.g. oilseed) through more uniform ripening of the crop 5 and is often the only way for plants to reproduce and to diversify their genetic information. Pollination benefit varies widely across studies but remains in the tens of billions of dollars a year.52 The economic value of pollination is estimated to be between 37 and 91 billion dollars worldwide and between 5 and 14.6 billion dollars in the European Union.53,54
