Researchers from Leeds University have revealed that pollinator services can be enhanced using a simple cost-effective measure.

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The researchers, working with colleagues in South Africa and the Netherlands, said pollination services improved in large agriculture fields by adding small patches of native plants to farmed land. The work was carried out fruit orchards in South Africa, though the researchers said their findings may be replicable in cropland elsewhere.

Lead author Luísa Carvalheiro of Leeds University said, "Mango farmers in South Africa are aware of the pollination limitation of this crop and invest a substantial amount of money renting honeybee hives to supplement pollination within the large farmland areas. However, while during blooming season, mango fields can have millions of open flowers; those flowers are not very attractive to either local wild pollinators or managed honeybees."

The researchers found that pesticide use and isolation from natural habitat lead to declines in flying visitors, resulting in impacts on mango production (in terms of kg of marketable fresh fruit). However, their work showed small patches of native flowers within large farms can ameliorate negative impacts, increasing the presence of wild pollinators and honeybees.

As these patches do not compromise production areas and their maintenance costs farmers little, such native flower compensation areas represent a profitable management measure for farmers, the researchers said. Their study is published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

They added that further research would be needed to establish an optimum size and flower composition of such flower areas to provide the most benefit. However, Carvalheiro added "the effectiveness of flower patches is likely dependent on the preservation of remaining patches of natural habitat and judicious use of pesticides."

The work was part-funded by the EU 'Status and Trends of European Pollinators' programme.

Last week, the UK government's Environmental Audit Committee called on representatives of major pesticide manufacturers to answer questions about pollinator declines in the UK. The EAC is investigating the effects of certain pesticides on pollinators, which are in decline in the EU, and the government's response to recent research in the area.   

Syngenta representative Mike bushel told the committee that "Bee populations [are threatened by] disease, viruses and the loss of habitat. Targeting the usual suspect, pesticides, is not only wrong but presents a serious risk that efforts to tackle the real threats to bee health will be diluted. Any ban could also reduce crop yields, like winter wheat and oilseed rape."

However, Matt Shardlow, chief executive of insect research organisation Buglife countered that 33 peer-reviewed scientific studies have linked neonicotinoids to harmful effects on insect pollinators in the past three years alone. He said, "The economic case for neonicotinoids is marginal at best the environmental cost is a price too high to pay. The use of these indiscriminate pesticides must be suspended before it is too late to halt the alarming decline in wild pollinators.

"Italy, Germany, France and Serbia are among the nations to have already suspended the use of these killers. It is time the Government realised that the public have no wish for the UK to be considered the dirty old man of Europe."

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