![]() ![]() Because of this, many researchers and policy makers are encouraging the creation of flower-rich habitats such as hedgerows, field borders, or cover crops to conserve bee populations and increase crop pollination 18, 19. Pollination (and subsequently crop yields and quality) is generally higher in areas located closer to natural or semi-natural habitats 16, 17. National Strategy to promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators identified restoration of pollinator habitat acreage as one of its three main goals, aiming to restore or enhance 7 million acres of land for pollinators by 2020 15. Recognizing the importance of all pollinators and the threat of reduced floral resource and habitat, the U.S. Herbicides are used regularly to control weeds in most cropping systems, and this may reduce the availability of season-long flowers for pollinators as well 14. Although difficult to predict, climate change could lead to range shifts or constrictions 13 and temporal separation of pollinators and the plants they pollinate. Extreme urbanization and monoculture cropping create a fragmented habitat and limited diet breadth both nutritionally and temporally, which can be generally unfavorable to managed and wild bees 10, 11, 12. Many bee species may respond favorably to moderate landscape disturbances that create nesting sites and stimulate floral diversity 9. Loss of the habitat providing these resources has been a long-term contributor to bee declines 8. Many factors may limit access to the feeding and nesting resources that bees need 7. Bee declines are most likely caused by the exposure to multiple interacting stressors such as pesticide use, pathogens, parasites, and a reduction in appropriate floral and nesting resources 7. Concurrent declines of wild bee populations, although more difficult to measure, also raise concerns regarding pollination deficits 4, 5, 6. Most crop producers have relied on managed bees, such as the honey bee ( Apis mellifera L.) for many years and in most situations, but reliance on this single species for commercial pollination is threatened by high rates of colony loss over the last decade 2, 3. Bees are the primary insect pollinators in agricultural ecosystems, and they provide an estimated global service to food production worth $215 billion 1. Insect pollinators are essential in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems, and the ecosystem services they provide are vital to both wild plant communities and agricultural crop production. However, after apple bloom, the abundance of known tree fruit pollinating bees increased significantly in the floral plantings, indicating potential for floral plantings to provide additional food and nesting resources when apple flowers are not available. During apple bloom, the known tree fruit pollinators were more frequently captured in the orchards than the floral plantings. ![]() Abundance of rare bee species was not significantly different between apple orchards and the floral plantings. During this study, a total of 138 species of bees were collected, which included 100 species in the floral plantings and 116 species in the apple orchards. We also examined bee community subsets, such as known tree fruit pollinators, rare pollinator species, and bees collected during apple bloom. We examined bee abundance, species richness, diversity, and species assemblages in both the floral plantings and adjoining apple orchards. ![]() A multi-year, season-long field study was conducted to examine how wildflower plantings near commercial apple orchards influenced bee communities. Artificially established floral plantings may offset these losses. Loss of such habitats in agricultural regions and in other human-modified landscapes could be a factor in recent bee declines. Natural habitats, comprised of various flowering plant species, provide food and nesting resources for pollinator species and other beneficial arthropods. ![]()
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