Do Patches of Flowering Plants Enhance Insect Pollinators in Apple Orchards?

ABSTRACT: Apples depend on insect pollination but intensification of agriculture jeopardizes pollination services in agroecosystems. Concerns about the dependency of crop pollination exclusively on honey bees increase the interest in agricultural practices that safeguard wild pollinators in agroecosystems. The purpose of the study was to assess the potential of floral resource provision in apple orchards to enhance the conservation of hymenopterous pollinating insects and potentially the pollination service to the crop. For this reason, flowering plant mixtures sown in patches inside apple orchards were tested against wild plant patches. Pollinator taxa recorded on the sown and wild plant patches were honey bees, wild bees (Andrena, Anthophora, Eucera, Halictus, Lasiog

SUBMITTER: Barda M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9960344 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature