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Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187356
  • Mass-flowering crops (MFCs) are increasingly cultivated and might influence pollinator communities in MFC fields and nearby semi-natural habitats (SNHs). Across six European regions and 2 years, we assessed how landscape-scale cover of MFCs affected pollinator densities in 408 MFC fields and adjacent SNHs. In MFC fields, densities of bumblebees, solitary bees, managed honeybees and hoverflies were negatively related to the cover of MFCs in the landscape. In SNHs, densities of bumblebees declined with increasing cover of MFCs but densities ofMass-flowering crops (MFCs) are increasingly cultivated and might influence pollinator communities in MFC fields and nearby semi-natural habitats (SNHs). Across six European regions and 2 years, we assessed how landscape-scale cover of MFCs affected pollinator densities in 408 MFC fields and adjacent SNHs. In MFC fields, densities of bumblebees, solitary bees, managed honeybees and hoverflies were negatively related to the cover of MFCs in the landscape. In SNHs, densities of bumblebees declined with increasing cover of MFCs but densities of honeybees increased. The densities of all pollinators were generally unrelated to the cover of SNHs in the landscape. Although MFC fields apparently attracted pollinators from SNHs, in landscapes with large areas of MFCs they became diluted. The resulting lower densities might negatively affect yields of pollinator- dependent crops and the reproductive success of wild plants. An expansion of MFCs needs to be accompanied by pollinator-supporting practices in agricultural landscapes.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Andrea Holzschuh, Matteo Dainese, Juan P. Gonzalez-Varo, Sonja Mudri-Stojnic, Verena Riedinger, Maj Rundlöf, Jeroen Scheper, Jennifer B. Wickens, Victoria J. Wickens, Riccardo Bommarco, David Kleijn, Simon G. Potts, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Henrik G. Smith, Montserrat Vilà, Ante Vujic, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-187356
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Fakultät für Biologie / Theodor-Boveri-Institut für Biowissenschaften
Language:English
Parent Title (English):Ecology Letters
Year of Completion:2016
Volume:19
Issue:10
Pagenumber:1228-1236
Source:Ecology Letters (2016) 19:10, 1228-1236. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12657
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12657
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie)
Tag:Agricultural intensification; Bee abundance; Colony growth; Context; Densities; Habitats; Nesting resources; Oilseed rape; Richness; Yield; agri-environment schemes; biofuels; crop pollination; ecosystem services; field boundaries; landscape compositionv; non-crop habitats; semi-natural habitats; spillover; wild plant pollination
Release Date:2020/06/10
EU-Project number / Contract (GA) number:244090
OpenAIRE:OpenAIRE
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International