title: Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe.
abstract: Mass-flowering crops (MFCs) are increasingly cultivated and might influence pollinator communities in MFC fields and nearby semi-natural habitats (SNHs). Across six European regions and 2 years, we assessed how landscape-scale cover of MFCs affected pollinator densities in 408 MFC fields and adjacent SNHs. In MFC fields, densities of bumblebees, solitary bees, managed honeybees and hoverflies were negatively related to the cover of MFCs in the landscape. In SNHs, densities of bumblebees declined with increasing cover of MFCs but densities of honeybees increased. The densities of all pollinators were generally unrelated to the cover of SNHs in the landscape. Although MFC fields apparently attracted pollinators from SNHs, in landscapes with large areas of MFCs they became diluted. The resulting lower densities might negatively affect yields of pollinator-dependent crops and the reproductive success of wild plants. An expansion of MFCs needs to be accompanied by pollinator-supporting practices in agricultural landscapes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany. andrea.holzschuh@uni-wuerzburg.de.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holzschuh
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dainese
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: González-Varo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 2, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mudri-Stojnić
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Riedinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rundlöf
authors.affiliation: Alterra, Animal Ecology Team, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scheper
authors.affiliation: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wickens
authors.affiliation: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Wickens
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bommarco
authors.affiliation: Alterra, Animal Ecology Team, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kleijn
authors.affiliation: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK.
authors.forename: Simon G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Potts
authors.affiliation: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK.
authors.forename: Stuart P M
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.|Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henrik G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vilà
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 2, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia.
authors.forename: Ante
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vujić
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingolf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Steffan-Dewenter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000502:physiology*; D004175:Diptera / Q000502:physiology*; D005060:Europe; D035264:Flowers / Q000502:physiology*; D054817:Pollination / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density
keywords: Agricultural intensification; agri-environment schemes; biofuels; crop pollination; ecosystem services; field boundaries; landscape composition; non-crop habitats; semi-natural habitats; spillover