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

Andrea Holzschuh; Matteo Dainese; Juan P. González-Varo; Sonja Mudri-Stojnić; 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 Vujić; Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter

doi:10.1111/ele.12657

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

Andrea Holzschuh^*, Matteo Dainese, Juan P. González-Varo, Sonja Mudri-Stojnić, 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 Vujić, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Academic › peer-review

200 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1228-1236
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	19
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12657
Publication status	Published - 2016

Keywords

Agri-environment schemes
Agricultural intensification
Biofuels
Crop pollination
Ecosystem services
Field boundaries
Landscape composition
Non-crop habitats
Semi-natural habitats
Spillover

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10.1111/ele.12657Licence: CC BY

Data from: Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe
Holzschuh, A. (Creator), Dainese, M. (Creator), González-Varo, J. P. (Creator), Riedinger, V. (Creator), Mudri-Stojnić, S. (Creator), Rundlöf, M. (Creator), Scheper, J. (Creator), Wickens, J. B. (Creator), Wickens, V. J. (Creator), Bommarco, R. (Creator), Kleijn, D. (Creator), Potts, S. G. (Creator), Roberts, S. P. M. (Creator), Smith, H. G. (Creator), Vilà, M. (Creator), Vujic, A. (Creator) & Steffan-Dewenter, I. (Creator), Wageningen University & Research, 1 Sept 2016
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.fd11f
Dataset

STEP: Status and Trends of European Pollinators
1/02/10 → 31/01/15
Project: EU research project

Cite this

Holzschuh, A., Dainese, M., González-Varo, J. P., Mudri-Stojnić, S., Riedinger, V., Rundlöf, M., Scheper, J., Wickens, J. B., Wickens, V. J., Bommarco, R., Kleijn, D., Potts, S. G., Roberts, S. P. M., Smith, H. G., Vilà, M., Vujić, A., & Steffan-Dewenter, I. (2016). Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe. Ecology Letters, 19(10), 1228-1236. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12657

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title = "Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe",

abstract = "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 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.",

keywords = "Agri-environment schemes, Agricultural intensification, Biofuels, Crop pollination, Ecosystem services, Field boundaries, Landscape composition, Non-crop habitats, Semi-natural habitats, Spillover",

author = "Andrea Holzschuh and Matteo Dainese and Gonz{\'a}lez-Varo, {Juan P.} and Sonja Mudri-Stojni{\'c} and Verena Riedinger and Maj Rundl{\"o}f and Jeroen Scheper and Wickens, {Jennifer B.} and Wickens, {Victoria J.} and Riccardo Bommarco and David Kleijn and Potts, {Simon G.} and Roberts, {Stuart P.M.} and Smith, {Henrik G.} and Montserrat Vil{\`a} and Ante Vuji{\'c} and Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter",

year = "2016",

doi = "10.1111/ele.12657",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "1228--1236",

journal = "Ecology Letters",

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Holzschuh, A, Dainese, M, González-Varo, JP, Mudri-Stojnić, S, Riedinger, V, Rundlöf, M, Scheper, J, Wickens, JB, Wickens, VJ, Bommarco, R, Kleijn, D, Potts, SG, Roberts, SPM, Smith, HG, Vilà, M, Vujić, A & Steffan-Dewenter, I 2016, 'Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe', Ecology Letters, vol. 19, no. 10, pp. 1228-1236. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12657

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe

AU - Holzschuh, Andrea

AU - Dainese, Matteo

AU - González-Varo, Juan P.

AU - Mudri-Stojnić, Sonja

AU - Riedinger, Verena

AU - Rundlöf, Maj

AU - Scheper, Jeroen

AU - Wickens, Jennifer B.

AU - Wickens, Victoria J.

AU - Bommarco, Riccardo

AU - Kleijn, David

AU - Potts, Simon G.

AU - Roberts, Stuart P.M.

AU - Smith, Henrik G.

AU - Vilà, Montserrat

AU - Vujić, Ante

AU - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - 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 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.

AB - 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 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.

KW - Agri-environment schemes

KW - Agricultural intensification

KW - Biofuels

KW - Crop pollination

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Field boundaries

KW - Landscape composition

KW - Non-crop habitats

KW - Semi-natural habitats

KW - Spillover

U2 - 10.1111/ele.12657

DO - 10.1111/ele.12657

M3 - Letter

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 19

SP - 1228

EP - 1236

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 10

ER -

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

Abstract

Keywords

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Datasets

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

Projects

STEP: Status and Trends of European Pollinators

Cite this