Using the Lonsdorf model for estimating habitat loss and fragmentation effects on pollination service

Ehsan Rahimi,Pinliang Dong,Shahindokht Barghjelveh

doi:10.1186/s13717-021-00291-8

Ehsan Rahimi, Pinliang Dong + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-021-00291-8

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Abstract

One of the most important issues related to landscape ecology and ecosystem services is finding the pattern of habitat patches that offers the highest pollination in agricultural landscapes. In this regard, two processes of habitat loss and fragmentation strongly affect the relationship between pollination and the pattern of habitat patches. In the present study, we aimed to examine the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on pollination separately. For this purpose, first, we generated different simulated agricultural landscapes, including two habitats of forest and agriculture. Then, according to the Lonsdorf model, we estimated the potential of the simulated landscapes in providing pollination in different scenarios. Finally, using statistical models, we estimated the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on pollination at the landscape and farm levels. Our results showed that the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on pollination were completely different at the landscape and farm levels. At the landscape level, fragmentation negatively affected pollination, but at the farm level, the maximum pollination rate was observed in the landscapes with a high degree of fragmentation. Regarding the habitat loss effects, our results showed that pollination decreased linearly at the landscape level as habitat amount decreased, but at the farm level, it decreased exponentially. The present study considered the level of analysis (i.e., landscape and farm levels) as a critical factor affecting pollination changes caused by fragmentation. We showed that using the Lonsdorf model could lead to confusing results for the landscape ecologists and alert farmers who want to reduce the adverse effects of fragmentation on their products by creating new forest patches. Therefore, agriculturalists and landscape ecologists should consider that the pollination rate at the landscape and farm levels is completely different according to the model and provide contradictory results about the process of habitat loss effects on pollination.

Highlights

Pollinators have significant economic value, and at least 35% of the world’s food products are directly dependent on these organisms (Klein et al 2007)
The vertical axis shows the average pollination rate at the landscape level, and the horizontal axis demonstrates the degree of fragmentation per se, which decreases from 0.1 to 0.5
The effects of fragmentation per se on pollination Our results showed that fragmentation per se had both positive and negative effects on pollination according to the level of analysis

Summary

Introduction

Pollinators have significant economic value, and at least 35% of the world’s food products are directly dependent on these organisms (Klein et al 2007). Rahimi et al Ecological Processes (2021) 10:22 to rapidly growing studies identifying pollinator threats in the agricultural landscapes. Wild bees often rely on non-agricultural habitats (such as forests) for nesting; they move from these habitats to farms to carry out the pollination process (Ricketts et al 2008). It has been demonstrated that the abundance of wild bees and their diversity in habitats such as farms depend on the quality of the farms and on the distance between the nesting habitats and the patches of their foraging habitat (Ekroos et al 2013; Gathmann et al 1994; Ricketts et al 2008; Steffan-Dewenter and Schiele 2008). In addition to a sufficient amount of nesting habitat, a landscape should provide sufficient floral resources for pollinators (Kline and Joshi 2020)

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