Effects Of Landscape Structure Research Articles

Seasonal changes in ecosystem health and their spatial relationship with landscape structure in china's Loess plateau

Environmental managers have sought to optimize landscape structure to maintain regional ecosystem health (EH). However, we still lack a full understanding of the effects of changing landscape structure on EH, especially in terms of shorter time scales (e.g., monthly or seasonal scales) and spatial heterogeneity. To address this gap, this study used the vigor-organization-resilience-services (VORS) model to assess the annual and seasonal variation of EH in the Loess Plateau (LP) during 2000–2015, and then applied the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to investigate the spatial effects of different aspects (i.e., landscape composition and configuration) of the landscape structure change on EH over time. Our results showed that the EH level in the LP from 2000 to 2015 displayed temporal non-stationarity at annual and seasonal scales, and a spatial pattern of decreasing from southeast to northwest. The effects of landscape structure on EH had obvious spatial and temporal heterogeneity, depending on the local landscape composition and configuration. In general, landscape configuration exerted a greater impact on EH than landscape composition apart from Shannon’s diversity index and percentage of forestland area, but the intensity and direction of the impact displayed higher temporally instability and therefore should receive more attention. Furthermore, regulation of the dominant patch size, landscape connectivity and forest spatial spacing is the optimal choice for regional ecosystem management. The results suggest that EH responses to changes in landscape structure in the LP vary by time and place, and that the integrating temporal variation and spatial characteristics can help decision-makers make precise spatial arrangements and temporal adjustments to keep the negative ecological impacts within reasonable limits.

Urban Matrices Threaten Patch Occurrence of Howler Monkeys in Anthropogenic Landscapes

Habitat modification due to human activities threatens species survival. While some species can inhabit habitat patches in anthropogenic landscapes, their occurrence often depends on landscape structure. We assessed the effects of landscape structure on brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba clamitans) occurrence in an urban scenario. We conducted censuses in 59 forest patches from 2014 to 2016 in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. We evaluated patch occurrence (presence/absence) in response to landscape composition (forest cover, arboreal crops, urban areas, open areas, and water) and configuration (patch density), considering the scale of effect. Water, urban, and open areas were the most important predictors of howler presence. Their presence was notably higher in landscapes with more water, likely because these landscapes consist of rural areas with low urbanization, less farming, and relatively high forest cover. Presence of howlers was positively associated with forest cover and negatively related to urban areas, open areas, and arboreal crops. Resource scarcity and increased mortality risks from human pressures, such as domestic dog attacks, electrocution, and roadkill on these land covers may explain these relationships. We highlight the importance of conserving and increasing forest cover in anthropogenic landscapes to protect species reliant on forested habitats, like howler monkeys.

Effects of landscape structure on river water characteristics: a multi-scale analysis

Effects of landscape structure on river water characteristics: a multi-scale analysis

Habitat loss reduces abundance and body size of forest-dwelling dung beetles in an Amazonian urban landscape

AbstractThe loss of forest cover in urban landscapes alters the dynamics of spatial and food resources, challenging the maintenance of forest species, which may have their condition compromised. Dung beetles are sensitive to changes in vegetation structure and land use caused by human activities, processes that are intrinsically related to the establishment and development of cities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of landscape structure on the abundance and morphological characteristics of two species of dung beetle (Dichotomius boreus and Dichotomius quadrilobatus) that inhabit forested areas in urbanized landscapes in the Amazon region. We carried out the study in 38 landscapes located in six urban regions in the central region of the Amazon. We evaluated the effect of landscape structure, at the site and city scales, on beetle abundance, individual body size, and relative horn length of males. At the local scale, landscapes with greater forest cover showed greater abundance of dung beetles, as well as greater lengths of D. boreus horns. Cities with a greater amount of forest cover had larger individuals than those with less forest cover. We conclude that forested areas in urban landscapes are a key habitat for the maintenance of dung beetle populations with a strong relationship between the amount of forest cover in the landscape. The maintenance of healthy and abundant populations of beetles in urban Amazonian landscapes guarantees the persistence of ecosystem services provided by these organisms in urban ecosystems.

Effects of compositional heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation on richness and diversity in simulated landscapes

AbstractLandscape structure plays a key role in mediating a variety of ecological processes affecting biodiversity patterns; however, its precise effects and the mechanisms underpinning them remain unclear. While the effects of landscape structure have been extensively investigated both empirically and theoretically from a metapopulation perspective, the effects of spatial structure at the landscape scale remain poorly explored from a metacommunity perspective. Here, we attempt to address this gap using a spatially explicit, individual‐based metacommunity model to explore the effects of landscape compositional heterogeneity and per se spatial configuration on diversity at the landscape and patch levels via their influence on long‐term community assembly processes. Our model simulates communities composed of species of annual, asexual organisms living, reproducing, dispersing, and competing within grid‐based, fractal landscapes that vary in their magnitude of spatial environmental heterogeneity and in their degree of spatial environmental autocorrelation. Communities are additionally subject to temporal environmental fluctuations and external immigration, allowing for turnover in community composition. We found that compositional heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation had differing effects on richness, diversity, and the landscape and patch scales. Landscape‐level diversity was driven by community dissimilarity at the patch level and increased with greater heterogeneity, while landscape richness was largely the result of the short‐term accumulation of immigrants and decreased with greater compositional heterogeneity. Both richness and diversity decreased in variance with greater compositional heterogeneity, indicating a reduction in community turnover over time. Patch‐level richness and diversity patterns appeared to be driven by overall landscape richness and local mass effects, resulting in maximum patch‐level richness and diversity at moderate levels of compositional heterogeneity and high spatial autocorrelation.

Euglossini bee diversity is driven by forest cover in coastal Amazon.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are drivers of biodiversity loss, such as Euglossini bees in continental regions. Knowledge about these effects on this group of pollinators in coastal regions is still incipient and needs to be further investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of landscape structure on the abundance, richness, diversity and species composition of Euglossini bees on the coast of the Brazilian Amazon. We mapped the surrounding landscape around 48 sampling points in the east of the island of Marajó, Pará, Brazil where we collected bees using chemical baits. We used Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) to evaluate the effects of landscape structure (composition and configuration) on the abundance, richness, diversity and composition of Euglossini bees. We collected a total of 1017 males belonging to four genera and 22 species. Forest cover (%) and landscape heterogeneity were the best predictors of the bee community. Increased forest cover positively affected the abundance, richness and diversity of bees at a local scale. On the other hand, abundance, richness and diversity decreased with increasing landscape heterogeneity, also at a local scale. The hypothesis that the amount of habitat favors Euglossini communities was corroborated by our results. Based on our conclusions, landscapes with greater forest cover can effectively contribute to the conservation of these bees and their pollination services along the Amazon coast.

Landscape structure influences natural pest suppression in a rice agroecosystem

Agricultural landscapes are constantly changing as farmers adopt new production practices and respond to changing environmental conditions. Some of these changes alter landscape structure with impacts on natural pest control, pesticide use, and conservation of biodiversity. In rice agroecosystems the effect of landscape structure on natural enemies and pest suppression is often poorly understood. Here we investigate the effect of landscape composition and configuration on a key pest of rice, the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens). Using N. lugens as sentinel prey coupled with predator exclusions, we investigated landscape effects on herbivore suppression and rice grain yield at multiple spatial scales in two regions of Bangladesh. Ladybird beetles and spiders were the most abundant natural enemies of N. lugens with landscape effects observed at all scales on ladybird beetles. Specifically, ladybird beetles were positively influenced by road edges, and fallow land, while spiders were strongly influenced only by rice phenology. Predator exclusion cages showed that N. lugens abundance significantly increased in caged plots, reducing rice gain yield. We also used an estimated biocontrol service index that showed a significant positive relationship with landscape diversity and a significant negative impact on pest density and yield loss. These results suggest that promoting fallow lands and fragmented patches between rice fields could lead to more sustainable insect pest management in rice agroecosystems, potentially reducing the practice of prophylactic insecticide use.

Scale dependency of the effects of landscape structure and stand age on species richness and aboveground biomass of tropical dry forests

Scale dependency of the effects of landscape structure and stand age on species richness and aboveground biomass of tropical dry forests

Comparison of amphibian diversity in areas under intensive versus subsistence agriculture in Uganda

Abstract Agricultural intensification has increasingly destroyed natural habitats, resulting in species declines. Insights into the effects of landscape structure on species’ diversity and distribution are needed to effectively conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. The influence of land use practices on amphibian species diversity was investigated in areas of intensive and subsistence agriculture in Namulonge (Uganda, East Africa) using visual encounter surveys while environmental parameters were also recorded. A total of 19 amphibian species were recorded. Species richness varied minimally between intensive and subsistence agriculture plots. However, there was a significant variation in species’ abundance between the two land use areas and the species diversity was reduced in the intensive-agriculture area. The relationship between habitat characteristics and species distribution was statistically significant: in areas with relatively intact natural vegetation cover more species occurred. Such pockets of vegetation provide microhabitat conditions suitable for foraging, breeding and cover. Therefore, the abovementioned observation suggests that there is value at the landscape level to preserve natural/seminatural pockets of vegetation to enhance biodiversity in any agricultural environment.

Effects of landscape structure and patch characteristics on the density of central populations of the eastern green lizard Lacerta viridis.

A better understanding of the impact of habitat loss on population density can be achieved by evaluating effects of both parameters within remnant habitat patches and parameters of the landscape surrounding those patches. The integration of predictors at the patch and landscape level is scarce in animal ecological studies, especially for reptiles. In this study, a patch-landscape approach was applied to evaluate the combined effects of within-patch habitat quality, patch geometry and landscape configuration and composition on the density of remnant populations of the eastern green lizard, Lacerta viridis, in a highly modified landscape in Bulgaria. Landscape composition variables (proportion of different land covers) were measured at different spatial scales surrounding patches. Single-scale models were built to evaluate combined effects of all predictors on density, when including all landscape composition variables at a specific spatial scale. Multi-scale models were applied to analyze combined effects when including landscape composition variables at the scale of their strongest effect (scale of effect, SoE). Results showed that the SoE of proportion of cropland and urban areas was small (50 m), while for proportion of habitat was large (1.5 km). The overall effect of habitat loss was better explained by the multi-scale model. Population density increased with patch area and decreased with patch shape irregularity and with the proportion of three land cover types surrounding patches-cropland, urban areas, and habitat. Combining patch and landscape parameters is important to identify ecological processes that occur simultaneously at different spatial levels and landscape scales, which would imply the application of multi-scale approaches for the protection of wild animal populations. Results are contrasted with what is known about occupancy patterns of the species in the same region and approaches to integrate both occupancy and density, in the field design of animal ecological studies are suggested.

An integrated spatial capture–recapture approach reveals the distribution of a cryptic carnivore in a protected area

AbstractQuantifying animal abundance, density, and distributions affords the opportunity to understand the effects of landscape structure and change on species of conservation interest, but estimating these parameters can be difficult for rare and cryptic species. Noninvasive sampling methods, such as remote cameras or scat DNA, can mitigate the challenges of studying rare and cryptic species while also minimizing effects on species of conservation interest or concern. Data derived from these methods can be integrated into robust, contemporary quantitative methods, including spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models, which provide a hierarchical framework for jointly estimating animal abundance, distribution, and, consequently, density. Herein, we developed an integrated SCR model to estimate the abundance, density, and distribution of a large carnivore of conservation interest, the cougar (Puma concolor), in a rugged and remote protected area, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. We combined spatial encounter data from DNA‐based individual identification of scats with detection count data derived from remote cameras to estimate cougar density and detection probability in Yosemite. We further estimated how cougar density and detection probability varied as a result of vegetation, topography, anthropogenic and natural linear features, and survey effort. Using data collected in 2019 and 2020, we estimated a median of 31 (SD = 3.96, 95% credible intervals = 24–39) cougars in Yosemite across the two years, with higher densities associated with productive, vegetated areas. We found detection probability by scent detection teams was higher for females than males and positively correlated with survey effort, proximity to trails, and distance farther from roads and streams. Our study illustrates the utility of noninvasive survey methods that yield individual identities in rugged and remote environments, where capture and handling of cryptic, low‐density animals is logistically challenging and cost prohibitive. Integrated modeling approaches, as used here, allow ecologists to leverage empirical data using a robust quantitative framework that can effectively address conservation objectives. Through this work, we demonstrate the importance of large, contiguous, and heterogeneous ecosystems to the ecology of wide‐ranging species that occur in dynamic landscapes.

Landscape structure influences grassland productivity through plant functional diversity

Agriculture intensification led to the gradual destruction of semi-natural habitats and landscape simplification in the North-Western Europe. All these profound changes affected plant assemblages, especially in semi-natural ecosystems such as grasslands. They could have negative effects on the plant diversity and the related ecosystem functions, such as primary productivity. At the landscape scale this biodiversity-productivity relationship still have to be tested in real-world systems. It could have important economic implications concerning fodder production. We used a large-scale sampling design (30 landscape windows – 1 ×1 km) to quantify landscape structure variables (semi-natural habitat amounts and landscape heterogeneity), grassland plant taxonomic diversity and functional diversity calculated from multidimensional functional spaces (functional richness, evenness, dispersion), and grassland productivity (mean, temporal stability, spatial variability) derived from satellite image time-series. Taxonomic dissimilarity, functional evenness and functional dispersion of grassland plant assemblages were related to semi-natural habitat amount. Functional evenness and dispersion decreased with grassland amount whereas taxonomic dissimilarity and functional evenness increased with hedgerow amount. Only taxonomic and functional richness depended on landscape heterogeneity, and with a positive relationship. Grassland plant assemblages with a higher functional evenness presented a higher and more stable mean productivity. In addition to the direct effect of landscape heterogeneity on plant productivity, we demonstrated plant trait-mediated effect of landscape structure on mean and temporal stability of grassland productivity at the landscape scale. Landscape management, especially through the conservation of hedgerows can help maintain high and resilient production of fodder in the future as a result of their positive effects on plant functional diversity.

Linking landscape structure and ecosystem service flow

Despite advances in understanding the effects of landscape structure on ecosystem services (ES), many challenges related to these complex spatial interactions remain. In particular, the integration of landscape effects on different components of the service provision chain (supply, demand, and flow) remains poorly understood and conceptualized. Here we propose a theoretical framework to further explore how the spatial flow of ES can vary according to landscape structure (i.e. composition and configuration) emphasizing the role played by the configuration of supply, demand, and neutral areas, as well as individual characteristics of ES (e.g., service rivalry). For this, we expand the discussion on how landscape changes can affect ES flows and propose a theoretical representation of ES flows variation led by different supply-demand ratios. Additionally, we expand this discussion by integrating the potential effects of neutral areas in the landscape as well as of supply/demand spatial overlap. This novel approach links the spatial arrangement (e.g. fragmentation, network complexity, matrix resistance) usually captured by landscape metrics, and ratios of ES supply and demand areas to potential effects on spatial flows of ES. We discuss the application of this model using widely studied ES, such as pollination, pest control by natural enemies, and microclimate regulation. Finally, we propose a research agenda to connect the presented ideas with other prominent research topics that must be further developed to support landscape management targeting ES provision. The prominence of ES science calls for contributions such as this to give the scientific community the opportunity to reflect on the underlying mechanisms of ES and avoid oversimplified spatial assessments.

A complex landscape favours the abundance and species richness of syrphids (Diptera: Syrphidae) in olive groves

Abstract Sustainability of agroecosystems depends on the ecosystem services, provided by beneficial organisms, such as the syrphids (Diptera: Syrphidae) acting as other‐insect predators and pollinators in different crops. In the case of olive groves, syrphids are predators of important pests and are endangered by the continuous intensification of agriculture, including landscape simplification. In this work, the effect of landscape structure on the abundance and species richness of syrphids in the olive agroecosystem of central Spain is assessed. Adult syrphids were sampled in 2015 and 2016 in the centre of circular areas of 15 olive grove landscapes (from 250 to 1500 m radius) representing a gradient of landscape complexity, in the province of Madrid, central Spain. The syrphid assemblage was made up of 57 species, although Eupeodes corollae, Eristalis tenax, Eristalis similis and Chrysotoxum intermedium made up 76% of the captures. Syrphid abundance and species richness were favoured in complex landscapes, with low olive grove area (CAO). Other landscape indices showed also this trend although their effect was not as strong and consistent as that of CAO. The area of scrublands (CAS) favoured syrphids in spring, but was unfavourable in autumn. The effect of Shannon's Evenness Index (SHEI) and mean shape index (MSI) was less consistent. The effect of CAO increased with increasing buffers radii, while the effect of CAS, SHEI and MSI was detected in general at smaller radii, indicating these indices affect different processes. Redundancy analysis (RDA) detected some differences between species regarding their abundance in spring versus autumn, and their relationship with landscape indices. This work provides new evidence that maintenance of complex landscapes is essential for maintaining functional biodiversity in the olive agroecosystem.

Effects of landscape structure and land use on turtle communities across the eastern United States

Landscape context is integral to population ecology, affecting a range of life history parameters, yet very little is known about how landscape structure influences many taxa. We sampled wetlands at 531 sites across 16 states in the eastern U.S. to examine the influence of landscape heterogeneity and anthropogenic land use on the relative abundance of freshwater turtles, one of the most endangered vertebrate clades in the world. Specifically, we aimed to understand how two components of landscape structure — compositional heterogeneity (wetland diversity) and configurational heterogeneity (wetland aggregation) — influence turtles with varying life history traits. Our results suggest that wetland configuration can modulate the relationship between relative abundance and anthropogenic land use. For example, spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) was negatively associated with hay/pasture cover when wetlands were less aggregated, but this relationship subsided as aggregation increased. Notably, the way wetland aggregation modulated land use relationships varied across species. These results suggest that some anthropogenic cover types are not strictly positive or negative for certain species, but are instead context-dependent. Relative abundance also generally increased with higher wetland diversity, indicating the potential importance of landscape supplementation for turtles. We report a range of responses to roads that did not strictly correspond with well-established predictions related to body size and terrestrial activity patterns, including positive associations for certain species. Overall, our study supports the use of context-driven approaches to land use-related conservation and management decisions rather than blanket prescriptions, and further emphasizes that effective conservation of freshwater systems requires a landscape-level perspective.

Impact of oilseed rape coverage and other agricultural landscape characteristics on two generations of the red mason bee Osmia bicornis

The intensification of agriculture and the related increase in pesticide use and land transformation toward large-scale monocultures are linked to a global insect decline that impacts biodiversity and essential ecosystem services. Apart from direct effects, potential delayed carry-over and maternal effects from past exposure to intensive farming at different life stages may have profound implications for population dynamics. We studied the effects of farming of varying intensity, represented by different proportion of oilseed rape in the close vicinity of nests and, at the same time, by different landscape structure on the life history traits of two generations of the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) and the sensitivity of bees toward insecticide. Twelve O. bicornis nests with cocooned adults of the parental (P) generation were located at sites representing 6–65% of oilseed rape coverage (ORC, % land cover) within nonoverlapping circles of 500 m radius. The bees were allowed to build their nests during the entire period of oilseed blooming. The following year, part of the newly emerged bees (generation F1) was used to test sensitivity to Dursban 480 EC insecticide, and the remaining bees were transferred to mid-forest meadows and allowed to establish the next (F2) generation in the areas without agricultural pressure. The F2 adults were tested the following year to determine their sensitivity to the same insecticides as F1 adults. We showed that ORC affected the F1 bees by decreasing their emergence success, shortening the emergence time of F1 females, and making them more sensitive toward Dursban 480 EC (topical exposure). However, these effects of ORC and the effect of landscape structure around the nests on emergence time disappeared in the F2 generation that developed in the areas without agricultural pressure. The only significant effect observed in F2 bees was the increase in the female:male ratio with increasing ORC. We also found that with increasing ORC, the survival time of newly emerged F1 males decreased, but the opposite relationship was found for F2 males. The results indicate that larval development under monoculture farming has some carry-over effects, but the effects mostly disappear in the next generation. Implications of carry-over and maternal effects for population sustainability should be considered in pollinator conservation and management decisions to mitigate the effects of agricultural landscape.

A multi-scale analysis on the importance of patch-surroundings for farmland birds

Agricultural intensification has profoundly changed agricultural landscapes with important biodiversity impacts. There is increasing knowledge on the general effects of landscape structure and management practices on plant and animal species but understanding the role of surrounding landscape structure for patch-scale biodiversity is more complex. While it can be reasonably assumed, that adjacent habitats are more important than more distant ones, the importance of landscape structure has often been tested at the landscape scale but rarely at smaller scales such as patch-surroundings. We assessed the influence and interdependences of landscape composition and configuration (LCC) and land use/land cover (LULC) on bird species richness and abundance through a multi-scale analysis with specific focus on the surrounding patches. In two agricultural regions in Switzerland, we collected point data of birds on 36 transects (500 m) and combined them with detailed spatial data on LULC. Bird richness and abundance were correlated to sets of landscape metrics as proxies for LCC computed at the transect-scale as well as for the patch surroundings. We analysed patch LULC as well as the most important patch-surrounding metrics using generalized linear mixed models. The results illustrate that patch LULC is the most important predictor of bird richness and abundance. Woody structures increase bird richness, followed by extensive management on patch scale. On the transect-scale semi-natural structure and heterogeneous LCCs are beneficial for bird richness and abundance. The effect of patch-surrounding structure LCCs is only small and interacts with patch LULC. Birds in grassland benefit from fallows in the surroundings, while in cropland they tend to respond positively to surrounding extensive grassland. Our results highlight that considering surroundings can help improve patch-based biodiversity assessments, which will then better predict the consequences of farmland management and make the outcome more applicable for practice.

Effect of landscape structure depends on habitat type in shaping spider communities of a natural mosaic of Eurasian forest‐steppe

Abstract Despite the important ecological role of forest‐steppes in nature conservation, information on the contribution of individual components to arthropod conservation is scarce. Furthermore, the effect of landscape structure on the arthropod composition of a natural mosaic of habitats has been largely understudied. We investigated the effects of habitat type and landscape heterogeneity on spider diversity in forest‐steppes of Kiskunság National Park, Hungary. We sampled ground‐dwelling spiders using pitfall traps in the grasslands, forest edges and forest interiors along a gradient of landscape composition (forest amount) and configuration (edge length) within 18 landscapes. We collected a total of 22,550 adult specimens belonging to 153 species. The three habitats of forest‐steppes showed a distinct community composition with a characteristic set of species traits. Xerothermic species of web‐building spiders were primarily found in grasslands, whereas spiders with a preference for moisture habitats were in the forest interior. The forest edges had higher species richness than forest interiors. The trait diversity, measured as RaoQ, was the highest in grasslands, while the lowest in the forests. We found that the increasing amount of forests in the landscape positively affected species richness in grasslands but negatively in forest edges and interiors. Edge length did not have any effect on spider communities. Increased species richness in grasslands with the increasing amount of forests highlights that grasslands are more affected by spillover from the neighbouring forests than vice versa. Habitat type plays a more important role in shaping spider diversity of natural forest‐steppe patches than landscape structure. However, landscape structure could modify the effect of habitat type. It emphasises the importance of habitat complementarity and therefore the high value of all components of the forest‐steppe landscape.

Scale‐dependent effects of landscape structure on pollinator traits, species interactions and pollination success

The environmental filtering of species traits can influence the identity of their interaction partners and the contribution of species interactions to ecosystem functioning, but the extent to which this process is influenced by landscape composition and configuration remains unclear. We combined a field experiment with an agent‐based model to assess how landscape structure and local flower patch isolation affect pollinator body‐size distribution and plant–pollinator interactions, sampled at different spatial extents. We then evaluated how these changes in pollinator functional (i.e. body‐size) diversity influence plant reproduction. We observed higher pollinator functional diversity in less‐isolated patches, which promoted plant reproduction via a relationship between functional diversity and interaction complementarity. This complementarity occurred partly because larger pollinators interacted with more plant species. Moreover, we showed that patch configuration at the landscape level can change the direction of these local‐scale patch isolation effects on pollinator body‐size distribution, functional diversity and plant–pollinator interactions. Importantly, these relationships were robust to sampling spatial extent. Thus, management strategies to promote pollination should account for local resources and landscape structure, because response, effect and interaction traits like body size connect landscape filtering effects with local community responses and outcomes of interaction‐based functions.

Pollination of exotic fruit crops depends more on extant pollinators and landscape structure than on local management of domestic bees

Agricultural globalization has driven the expansion of exotic crops into new agricultural areas. Pollinator-dependent exotic crops not only have to face the abiotic constraints of the new cultivation regions but also deal with local pollinator assemblages, which may or may not fulfill pollination requirements. Here, we studied how three entomophilous exotic crops (kiwifruit, northern highbush blueberry and rabbiteye blueberry) adapt to a common pollination environment in new cultivation areas in Spain. For this, we assessed the pollination limitation of those crops, the contribution of insect assemblages to the pollination service, and the effect of landscape structure and the management of domestic pollinators on these assemblages. The three exotic crops showed large and diverse pollinator assemblages but differed in the assemblage composition and in the identity of the main pollinator species. Honeybee clearly dominated kiwifruit assemblages, representing almost 70 % of visits to flowers. Bumblebees and honeybee fairly equally dominated floral visits in highbush blueberry, and bumblebees accounted for more than 90% of visits in rabbiteye blueberry. Floral morphology partially explained interspecific differences in pollinator assemblages and led to the distinct contributions of the different insects to the different crops. Kiwifruit (but not blueberry) crops experienced pollination limitation that led to, on average, a 7.2 % reduction in fruit weight. This pollination limitation decreased when honeybee abundance rose. In all three crops, the local pollinator assemblages mostly depended on the landscape structure around orchards but were only affected by the management of domestic pollinators in rabbiteye blueberry crops. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the interspecific differences in the pollination ecology of new exotic crops before designing general management recommendations, and also question the use of managed pollinators before making an assessment of the contribution of extant insects to the pollination service.