Co-Flowering Species Richness Increases Pollinator Visitation to Apple Flowers

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript “Co-flowering species richness increases pollinator visitation to apple flowers” presents a rather complex study which aims to understand if co-flowering plants facilitate or compete with crop (apple trees in this case) pollination. In general, the findings are very interesting and are obtained through rigorous investigation of multiple factors. If any major flaw had to be pointed out, it would be the actual length of the manuscript (including the supplementary material). Shortening of the manuscript, through the omission of the segments dealing with pollination networks etc. would make the manuscript much more concise and reader-friendly. However, a segment that I would like to see added is the impact of the findings on the agronomical parameters such as yield and fruit quality. 

Additionally, there are some minor issues listed below. 

Author Response

The manuscript “Co-flowering species richness increases pollinator visitation to apple flowers” presents a rather complex study which aims to understand if co-flowering plants facilitate or compete with crop (apple trees in this case) pollination. In general, the findings are very interesting and are obtained through rigorous investigation of multiple factors. If any major flaw had to be pointed out, it would be the actual length of the manuscript (including the supplementary material). Shortening of the manuscript, through the omission of the segments dealing with pollination networks etc. would make the manuscript much more concise and reader-friendly. However, a segment that I would like to see added is the impact of the findings on the agronomical parameters such as yield and fruit quality. 

We have tried to shorten the paragraphs dealing with the networks, however, we feel the network analysis does contribute to the overall findings of the manuscript and therefore we have retained them. We agree that the effect on yield and fruit quality is a logical next step for this research, however unfortunately it was outside the scope of this particular research and therefore we do not have any data on these parameters. 

Table 1. Several orchards located at Bilpin and Orange are presented as mono-cultivar (‘Pink lady’ needs a pollinizer).

We have now amended Table 1, Table 2 and within the text so that it is clear that we used these cultivars in the study but that there were other cultivars grown at each orchard. Please see line 94 page 2. 

line 98. Define “links”.

We have tried to highlight our definition of “links” within the text more clearly. Please see line 73 page 6.

line 165-166 Was the diversity of flower visitors at Orange significantly lower than at Bilpin?

We have clarified the wording so that it’s clear that Orange was lower although this was not significant. 

line 200. Is the pollination richness a synonym of flower visitor diversity, if so, please indicate this in the text?

Yes it is ,and we have added this detail to line 160, page 8.

Table 2. The caption needs to be more detailed in order for the table to be stand-alone.

We agree and have amended the caption to include further details of the bipartite networks.

Reviewer 2 Report

Well-planned and executed research. Useful findings for agricultural producers. Overall good development of conclusions and good presentation. Sentence structure and writing style are occasionally sloppy and minor edits are needed. 

28- “…bees decreased as the area of co-flowering…”

50- “…flowering species increases the…”

62- [18, 19, 20, 21].

102- “While it is known that there are…”

110- Page should not end at only ¼ full. Text from pg 5 should be moved up to fit on pg 3 prior to the table on pg 4. Same for pg. 9.

Starting on pg. 5, the width of your text column is significantly reduced. Please check the journal style guide and apply their preferences uniformly throughout the text.

Pg. 6, Ln. 62- “…apple bloom time points. In addition…”

82- “…cultivar (Pink Lady or Granny Smith)]

97- “These indices included connectance, which…”

136- “…open flowers (all species combined)], across…”

Please try to use [(parentheses) with brackets], rather than 2 sets of parentheses. There are many examples throughout the text.

Pg. 12, Ln. 28- “…for total pollinator, honeybee and…”

Pg 15, Ln 77 – 102: Does the journal require you to list citations using , or ;? Please check and apply consistently throughout the text.

136- font inexplicably increased in size for part of sentence?

Author Response

Well-planned and executed research. Useful findings for agricultural producers. Overall good development of conclusions and good presentation. Sentence structure and writing style are occasionally sloppy and minor edits are needed. 

We have reviewed the manuscript to improve clarity and to ensure consistency throughout.

• 28- “…bees decreased as the area of co-flowering…”

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 50- “…flowering species increases the…”

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 62- [18, 19, 20, 21].

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 102- “While it is known that there are…”

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 110- Page should not end at only ¼ full. Text from pg 5 should be moved up to fit on pg 3 prior to the table on pg 4. Same for pg. 9.
• Starting on pg. 5, the width of your text column is significantly reduced. Please check the journal style guide and apply their preferences uniformly throughout the text.

We agree with the reviewers suggestion, however, as I have tracked changes to the document I wasn't sure how much text would fit on the pages before the tables once the tracked changes have been accepted. Therefore, I was wondering if its possible for the editing team to fix the text once they have accepted the changes that we have made to the document so that the right amount of text precedes the tables. 

• Pg. 6, Ln. 62- “…apple bloom time points. In addition…”

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 82- “…cultivar (Pink Lady or Granny Smith)]

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 97- “These indices included connectance, which…”

We have amended the sentence accordingly.

• 136- “…open flowers (all species combined)], across…”

We have amended this sentence accordingly.

• Please try to use [(parentheses) with brackets], rather than 2 sets of parentheses. There are many examples throughout the text.

Thank you for this suggestion, we have altered the manuscript accordingly.

• Pg. 12, Ln. 28- “…for total pollinator, honeybee and…”

We have amended this sentence accordingly.

• Pg. 15, Ln 77 – 102: Does the journal require you to list citations using , or ;? Please check and apply consistently throughout the text.

We have checked the journal requirements and have ensured that we have used the same convention throughout the manuscript.

• 136- font inexplicably increased in size for part of sentence?

We have changed the font size so that it now is consistent throughout.