Happybee · Insect pollinators along gradients in differently structured landscapes: importance of the edge effect and small- vs. large-scale agriculture

Insect pollinators along gradients in differently structured landscapes: importance of the edge effect and small- vs. large-scale agriculture

Global biodiversity is in crisis because it has declined massively worldwide over the last seven decades. Some of the main drivers of this decline are agricultural land-use changes, including the loss of natural and semi-natural habitats, a cumulative increase in chemical inputs (pesticides and fertilizers), higher mechanization rates, and the loss of smallholder farm systems in agricultural landscapes. These changes have occurred due to human population growth and increased food production demand. However, biodiversity loss can seriously reduce ecosystem services, including agricultural production itself, e.g. as a consequence of the lack of adequate pollination services. Based on a recent IUCN report, 46% of bumblebee species are showing a declining population trend in Europe. Bumblebee populations – among other pollinator insects – are very important for food production and also for natural plant biodiversity. For instance, wild bee communities contribute, on average, over 3,000 US dollars per hectare to the production of insect-pollinated crops worldwide. The global annual economic value of insect pollination was estimated to be 153 billion dollars, and 35% of the global production of crops depends to some degree on pollinators. This is why the protection of wild pollinators is one of the key challenges for maintaining world crop production and safeguarding food availability. Pollinator movements in agricultural landscapes has so far gained limited attention. However, this topic is one of the key aspects related to species dispersal and reproduction, as well as providing a better understanding of ecosystem services. Combining the marking of bumblebees with RFID tags with a homing experiment is a promising novel method, which I used in my study to increase understanding of pollinator movements and their influence on crop yield. Another of my study objectives was to investigate population changes in insect pollinator species and community changes on a gradient from the crop field edge towards the field interior. I wanted to know which species or taxonomic groups are more common inside crop fields than at the field borders. It is important to understand the distance decay effect of pollinators since they provide an ecosystem service by increasing crop yield. Additionally, my project objectives involved describing the mechanisms behind bumblebee colony fitness and navigation capacities in the agricultural landscape, while at the same time taking account of the effects of crop type, proximity to semi-natural habitats, and field size. I use commercial buff-tailed bumblebee colonies to simulate real-world processes. The last objective was to communicate the project results during and at the end of the project. I have already disseminated my project results to farmers and scientists, as well as policymakers, stakeholders, and the general public, via leaflets, different presentations, articles, blog posts, and YouTube videos.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз