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Abstract
AbstractCompared to traditional arable crops, second‐generation perennial energy crops (PECs) are generally associated with increased biodiversity and ecosystem services, but robust experimental studies on this subject are few. Consequently, the potential for PEC cultivation to contribute to enhanced pollination processes in adjacent farmland remains unclear. In a 4‐year field study across multiple sites and two PECs (Miscanthus x giganteus and willow short‐rotation coppice), we examine whether pollinator visits to crop margin wildflowers were augmented by PEC cultivation. Each field was paired with two cereal fields, one adjacent to the PEC and one distant, and we recorded wildflower visits to crop margins by three pollinator groups: hoverflies, bumblebees and butterflies/moths. We also quantified floral resources, since crop‐specific management seemed a likely means of influencing margin wildflowers and thus pollinator activity. Our results add quantitative support to the suggestion that PECs should enhance ecosystem processes in agri‐landscapes. However, benefits were highly context‐dependent. Consistent enhancement of pollinator activity in margins of PEC fields was only apparent for willow where the relative frequency of flower visitation was higher for all three pollinator groups compared to adjacent or distant cereals. This distribution was most likely positively associated with the increased availability of preferred food plants in willow margins. In Miscanthus, by contrast, opposing trends arose for different pollinator taxa: Lepidoptera were the only pollinator group more frequently associated with PEC margins; bumblebees showed no variation while hoverflies were comparatively more abundant in distant cereal margins than in other crop types. Future land‐use practices should consider how PEC identity affects both target species and ecosystem processes. Tackling anthropogenic climate change through cultivation of willow, in particular, may yield local conservation benefits for both wildflowers and pollinators, although strategic cultivation of PECs to enhance pollination processes in the wider agri‐environment may not be achievable.
Highlights
A global decline in insect pollinator abundance and diversity is well established and associated ramifications for crop and wildflower pollination widely debated (De Palma et al, 2016; Hallmann et al, 2017; Potts et al, 2010; Vanbergen & Insect Pollinator Initiative, 2013; but see Ghazoul, 2005)
We investigated the influence that Miscanthus and willow short‐rotation coppice (SRC) cultivation had upon guild‐specific pollinator visits to native plants in margins adjacent to the crop, and compared this to margins of traditional annual cereals in a replicated, paired design
Cultivation of second‐generation bioenergy crops (BECs) has been widely observed to have positive implications for biodiversity compared to conventional arable cropping systems (Milner et al, 2016; Rowe et al, 2013, 2011 ); our results generally corroborate this pattern
Summary
A global decline in insect pollinator abundance and diversity is well established and associated ramifications for crop and wildflower pollination widely debated (De Palma et al, 2016; Hallmann et al, 2017; Potts et al, 2010; Vanbergen & Insect Pollinator Initiative, 2013; but see Ghazoul, 2005). Key ecosystem processes such as decomposition and predation are enhanced within the PEC compared to adjacent cereal crops (Rowe et al, 2013) Taken together, these findings have led to the suggestion that the strategic location of PECs could boost local pollinator abundances and benefit ecosystem service provision. These findings have led to the suggestion that the strategic location of PECs could boost local pollinator abundances and benefit ecosystem service provision This in turn would enhance ecosystem processes such as flower visitation to margin wildflowers, both within the field and in the local arable landscape (Manning, Taylor, & Hanley, 2015; see Holland et al, 2015; Milner et al, 2016).
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