Establishment and management of wildflower areas for insect pollinators in commercial orchards.

ABSTRACT: Sown wildflower areas are increasingly recommended as an agri-environmental intervention measure, but evidence for their success is limited to particular insect groups or hampered by the challenges of establishing seed mixes and maintaining flower abundance over time. We conducted a replicated experiment to establish wildflower areas to support insect pollinators in apple orchards. Over three years, and across 23 commercial UK orchards with and without sown wildflowers, we conducted 828 transect surveys across various non-crop habitats. We found that the abundance of flower-visiting solitary bees, bumblebees, honeybees, and beetles was increased in sown wildflower areas, compared with existing non-crop habitats in control orchards, from the second year following floral establishment. Abund

SUBMITTER: Carvell C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8752464 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature