Agroecosystem design supports the activity of pollinator networks

Abstract

The ecological compensation areas are hedges, woods, field margins, uncultivated land and the wild nectariferous/polliniferous plants that form the vegetable “non-productive” component within the agro-ecosystems. In intensive agriculture, these components have been described for many years as unhelpful in the productive systems. More recently a different approach, which considers the complex interactions between the crop and the non-productive areas has opened new perspectives. Many studies carried out at the farm-scale and at the landscape-scale resulted in the identification of many non-crop plants that play an important role in the conservation of both pollinators and beneficial arthropods. Knowledge about their role in the multiplication, life cycle and population dynamics of pollinators is crucial in order to select weeds, trees and shrubs for restoring degraded agroecosystems and for the development of wild pollinators conservation programs, or for the selective enhancement of certain pollinator species. Synchronizing pollinators’ presence with the need of pollination of a specific crop requires the management of ecological compensation areas. A crucial role to realize synchronization is represented by non-crop plants, which may allow the nesting and multiplication of the most efficient pollinators of the target crop at the proper period.