Early reproductive benefits of mass-flowering crops to the solitary bee Osmia rufa outbalance post-flowering disadvantages

Massively Introduced Managed Species and Their Consequences for Plant–Pollinator Interactions

“…nest building and number of produced offspring, but no evidence was available concerning the spillover of these beneficial aspects on the pollination of natural habitats (Jauker et al, 2012). Overall, this spillover may occur in conditions where agricultural habitats are subject to biodiversity-friendly management practices such as organic farming.…”

“…Short-term effects (during vs after MFC flowering) as well as long-term effects via crop rotations that result in annual changes in the distribution of MFC fields might modify the interactions between plant MIMS and natural plant communities. For example, we may observe transient impact of MFC on pollinator populations and wild plant pollination during the flowering that does not necessarily remain after the flowering season (Hanley et al, 2011;Jauker et al, 2012). Furthermore, by influencing pollinator population dynamics, plant MIMS might induce competition for pollinators during mass flowering that potentially translate into facilitation at larger time scales.…”

“…These habitats have become increasingly scarce in modern agroecosystems (Potts et al, 2010), leading to pollination deficit in agricultural systems. Overall, agricultural MIMS may favour nonsocial, early reproducing pollinator species (Jauker et al, 2012), and ultimately early reproducing wild plant species, but be globally detrimental to diversity of wild plant communities. Thus, it is questionable whether the exclusive provision of food resources by transient MFC sustainably promotes pollinator reproduction in these systems.…”

“…Given the increase in pollinator densities commonly ascribed to MFC, from the local to the landscape scale Jauker et al, 2012;Knight et al, 2009;Westphal et al, 2003Westphal et al, , 2009; Box 3), it seems likely that competition or facilitation between coflowering plants via shared pollinators would be influenced by MFC. For example, in oilseed rape (MFC), a single field provides 350,000-700,000 plants per hectare, each producing more than 100 flowers (Hoyle et al, 2007) during a flowering period of about 4 weeks.…”

Pollinators, pests, and predators: Recognizing ecological trade-offs in agroecosystems

“…Mass-flowering crop monocultures can attract pollinators from surrounding habitats during flowering, with obvious benefits for crop yields (Bartomeus and Winfree 2011). Yet, after the brief flowering period is over, the abrupt decline in floral density can reduce pollinator reproduction rates (Jauker et al 2012), potentially having long-term negative effects on crop production in the local area. Similarly, when flowering crops are temporarily saturated with managed honey bee colonies, the net benefits of fruit set can decline once flower visitation rates surpass an optimal number of visits (Aizen et al 2014).…”