Bees increase seed set of wild plants while the proportion of arable land has a variable effect on pollination in European agricultural landscapes

• DOI: 10.5091/plecevo.2021.1884
• Publication Date: 2021-11-23T09:31:03Z
• Authors: Lina Herbertsson; Johan Ekroos; Matthias Albrecht; Ignasi Bartomeus; Péter Batáry; Riccardo Bommarco; Paul Caplat; Tim Diekötter; Jenny M. Eikestam; Martin H. Entling; Sunniva Farbu; Nina Farwig; Juan P. Gonzalez-...; Annika L. Hass; Andrea Holzschuh; Sebastian Hopfenm...; Anna Jakobsson; Birgit Jauker; Anikó Kovács-Host...; Wera Kleve; William E. Kunin; Sandra A.M. Linds...; Sarah Mullen; Erik Öckinger; Theodora Petanidou; Simon G. Potts; Eileen F. Power; Maj Rundlöf; Kathrin Seibel; Virve Sõber; Annika Söderman; Ingolf Steffan-De...; Jane C. Stout; Tiit Teder; Teja Tscharntke; Henrik G. Smith
• Keywords: Arable land; Flowering plant

Background and aims – Agricultural intensification loss of farmland heterogeneity have contributed to population declines wild bees other pollinators, which may caused subsequent in insect-pollinated plants. Material methods Using data from 37 studies on 22 pollinator-dependent plant species across Europe, we investigated whether flower visitation seed set plants decline with an increasing proportion arable land within 1 km. Key results Seed increased by bees, most were but not insects. Increasing had a strongly variable effect studies. Conclusion Factors such as landscape configuration, local habitat quality, temporally changing resource availability (e.g. due mass-flowering crops or honey bee hives) could modified the pollination. While our highlight that persistence is crucial maintain diversity, also show pollen limitation declining populations homogenized agricultural landscapes universal driver causing parallel losses