Albrecht M., Kleijn D., Williams N. M., Tschumi M., Blaauw B. R., Bommarco R., Campbell A. J., Dainese M., Drummond F. A., Entling M. H., Ganser D., de Groot G. A., Goulson D., Grab H., Hamilton H., Herzog F., Isaacs R., Jacot-Ammann K., Jeanneret P., Jonsson M., Knop E., Kremen C., Landis D. A., Loeb G. M., Marini L., McKerchar M., Morandin L., Pfister S. C., Potts S. G., Rundlöf M., Sardiñas H., Sciligo A., Thies C., Tscharntke T., Venturini E., Veromann E., Vollhardt I. M. G., Wäckers F., Ward K., Wilby A., Woltz M., Wratten S., Sutter L.
The effectiveness of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control, pollination services and crop yield: a quantitative synthesis.
Floral plantings are promoted to foster ecological intensification of agriculture through provisioning
of ecosystem services. However, a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of different
floral plantings, their characteristics and consequences for crop yield is lacking. Here we quantified
the impacts of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control (18 studies) and pollination services
(17 studies) in adjacent crops in North America, Europe and New Zealand. Flower strips,
but not hedgerows, enhanced pest control services in adjacent fields by 16% on average. However,
effects on crop pollination and yield were more variable. Our synthesis identifies several important
drivers of variability in effectiveness of plantings: pollination services declined exponentially with
distance from plantings, and perennial and older flower strips with higher flowering plant diversity
enhanced pollination more effectively. These findings provide promising pathways to optimise floral
plantings to more effectively contribute to ecosystem service delivery and ecological intensification
of agriculture in the future.
