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Farming with alternative pollinators’ approach supports diverse and abundant pollinator community in melon fields in a semi-arid landscape

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Title Farming with alternative pollinators’ approach supports diverse and abundant pollinator community in melon fields in a semi-arid landscape
 
Creator Bencharki, Youssef
 
Contributor Christmann, Stefanie
Lhomme, Patrick
Ihsane, Oumayma
Sentil, Ahlam
El Abdouni, Insafe
Hamroud, Laila
Rasmont, Pierre
Michez, Denis
 
Subject agro-ecosystems
wild bees
lassioglossum malachurum
 
Description The presence of pollinating insects in crop fields is an essential factor for agricultural
production and pollinator conservation. Agricultural intensification has been identified as a driver of pollinator decline over the last decades and challenges the efficiency of pollination. Several approaches are used to support pollinators and their ecosystem services, notably reward-based wildflower strips. ‘Farming with Alternative Pollinators’ (FAP) aims to attract and sustain pollinators using marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP) in the field borders instead of wildflowers. These MHEP are selected in conjunction with farmers. We tested here whether the FAP approach increases diversity and abundance of flower visitors in melon fields in a semi-arid landscape in Morocco. Moreover, we examined whether MHEP increase flower-visitor abundance in melon flowers. We recorded a total of 1330 insect specimens including 573 specimens of wild bees. Lasioglossum malachurum was the major flower visitor in melon and several MHEP. As flower-visitor abundance and diversity in FAP fields were higher than in control fields, we conclude that FAP can be a valuable approach for pollinator protection in agro-ecosystems; 16.5% of wild bees and wasps showed spillover from the field borders to the melon fields.
 
Date 2022-11-05
2023-01-26T21:03:56Z
2023-01-26T21:03:56Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/download/hash/3ad004a330dcfbeadb46d1f5f9e391b3
Youssef Bencharki, Stefanie Christmann, Patrick Lhomme, Oumayma Ihsane, Ahlam Sentil, Insafe El Abdouni, Laila Hamroud, Pierre Rasmont, Denis Michez. (5/11/2022). Farming with alternative pollinators’ approach supports diverse and abundant pollinator community in melon fields in a semi-arid landscape. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 38.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/68066
Open access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
 
Source Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems;38,(2022)