Intensively managed agricultural landscapes often lack suitable habitats to support diverse wildlife, particularly harming pollinator communities. Besides mass flowering crops, remnant patches of natural and semi\uffe2\uff80\uff90natural vegetation may play a key role in maintaining and conserving biodiversity. Yet, the effects of different natural habitats, including forests and grasslands, on different pollinator communities are poorly understood at the landscape scale.
We examined the abundance, richness, and diversity of wild bees and hoverflies, two key pollinator groups, across a land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use gradient spanning forest edges, grassland, wildflower strips, and sunflower monoculture. We also examined the distribution of hoverfly larvae trophic guilds and wild bee nesting traits across the above\uffe2\uff80\uff90mentioned land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use gradient. Finally, we evaluated the impact of landscape structure (forest, grassland, and water cover in the surrounding landscape) on pollinator community composition.
Our results indicate that forest and grassland habitats supported a higher abundance and greater richness of pollinators than wildflower strips and sunflower monocultures. Furthermore, hoverflies were more sensitive to habitat and floristic homogenization than wild bees. Sunflower and wildflower habitats also hosted a lower diversity of larvae trophic guilds and wild bee nesting guilds as compared to forests and grasslands.
Our study suggests that conserving and restoring forest and grassland habitats within agricultural mosaics may serve as the main \uffe2\uff80\uff98refuge\uffe2\uff80\uff99 for wild pollinators.
Pollinators play a crucial role in ecosystems globally, ensuring the seed production of most flowering plants. They are threatened by global changes and knowledge of their distribution at the national and continental levels is needed to implement efficient conservation actions, but this knowledge is still fragmented and/or difficult to access.
As a step forward, we provide an updated list of around 3000 European bee and hoverfly species, reflecting their current distributional status at the national level (in the form of present, absent, regionally extinct, possibly extinct or non\uffe2\uff80\uff90native). This work was attainable by incorporating both published and unpublished data, as well as knowledge from a large set of taxonomists and ecologists in both groups.
After providing the first National species lists for bees and hoverflies for many countries, we examine the current distributional patterns of these species and designate the countries with highest levels of species richness. We also show that many species are recorded in a single European country, highlighting the importance of articulating European and national conservation strategies.
Finally, we discuss how the data provided here can be combined with future trait and Red List data to implement research that will further advance pollinator conservation.
The global decline of pollinator populations is posing a threat to agricultural productivity, increasingly forcing farmers to introduce pollinators to their fields. Selecting suitable pollinator species is critical for effective crop pollination. This study presents an efficient method for early pollination assessment, utilizing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) footage for reliable estimation and timely reactions. Twelve oilseed rape ( Brassica napus var. oleracea ) isolation cages with three pollinator treatments were set up, including the control with no pollinators. The trial employed UAV image acquisition, generating high-resolution RGB orthomosaics. A K-means clustering algorithm was implemented to identify oilseed rape flowers, a direct indicator of pollination performance. The percentage of detected oilseed rape flower coverage within each cage was the primary metric for performance assessment. These initial results demonstrated a negative correlation of 0.92 between estimated flower coverage and expert observations, affirming the efficacy of the proposed methodology. By integrating UAVs and clustering image processing, this research contributes to precision agriculture, offering a robust approach for evaluating pollination performance. The findings underscore the potential of advanced technology to support informed decision-making in agricultural practices, addressing the urgent need for sustainable pollination management in the face of declining pollinator populations.Pollinators play a crucial role in ecosystems globally, ensuring the seed production of most flowering plants. They are threatened by global changes and knowledge of their distribution at the national and continental levels is needed to implement efficient conservation actions, but this knowledge is still fragmented and/or difficult to access.
As a step forward, we provide an updated list of around 3000 European bee and hoverfly species, reflecting their current distributional status at the national level (in the form of present, absent, regionally extinct, possibly extinct or non\uffe2\uff80\uff90native). This work was attainable by incorporating both published and unpublished data, as well as knowledge from a large set of taxonomists and ecologists in both groups.
After providing the first National species lists for bees and hoverflies for many countries, we examine the current distributional patterns of these species and designate the countries with highest levels of species richness. We also show that many species are recorded in a single European country, highlighting the importance of articulating European and national conservation strategies.
Finally, we discuss how the data provided here can be combined with future trait and Red List data to implement research that will further advance pollinator conservation.
The global decline of pollinator populations is posing a threat to agricultural productivity, increasingly forcing farmers to introduce pollinators to their fields. Selecting suitable pollinator species is critical for effective crop pollination. This study presents an efficient method for early pollination assessment, utilizing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) footage for reliable estimation and timely reactions. Twelve oilseed rape ( Brassica napus var. oleracea ) isolation cages with three pollinator treatments were set up, including the control with no pollinators. The trial employed UAV image acquisition, generating high-resolution RGB orthomosaics. A K-means clustering algorithm was implemented to identify oilseed rape flowers, a direct indicator of pollination performance. The percentage of detected oilseed rape flower coverage within each cage was the primary metric for performance assessment. These initial results demonstrated a negative correlation of 0.92 between estimated flower coverage and expert observations, affirming the efficacy of the proposed methodology. By integrating UAVs and clustering image processing, this research contributes to precision agriculture, offering a robust approach for evaluating pollination performance. The findings underscore the potential of advanced technology to support informed decision-making in agricultural practices, addressing the urgent need for sustainable pollination management in the face of declining pollinator populations.Intensively managed agricultural landscapes often lack suitable habitats to support diverse wildlife, particularly harming pollinator communities. Besides mass flowering crops, remnant patches of natural and semi\uffe2\uff80\uff90natural vegetation may play a key role in maintaining and conserving biodiversity. Yet, the effects of different natural habitats, including forests and grasslands, on different pollinator communities are poorly understood at the landscape scale.
We examined the abundance, richness, and diversity of wild bees and hoverflies, two key pollinator groups, across a land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use gradient spanning forest edges, grassland, wildflower strips, and sunflower monoculture. We also examined the distribution of hoverfly larvae trophic guilds and wild bee nesting traits across the above\uffe2\uff80\uff90mentioned land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use gradient. Finally, we evaluated the impact of landscape structure (forest, grassland, and water cover in the surrounding landscape) on pollinator community composition.
Our results indicate that forest and grassland habitats supported a higher abundance and greater richness of pollinators than wildflower strips and sunflower monocultures. Furthermore, hoverflies were more sensitive to habitat and floristic homogenization than wild bees. Sunflower and wildflower habitats also hosted a lower diversity of larvae trophic guilds and wild bee nesting guilds as compared to forests and grasslands.
Our study suggests that conserving and restoring forest and grassland habitats within agricultural mosaics may serve as the main \uffe2\uff80\uff98refuge\uffe2\uff80\uff99 for wild pollinators.