Bees are among North America’s most important agricultural asset, increasing yields in roughly three-quarters of our crops.

But as Rutgers University researchers reveal, a diversity of pollinators is key. In a National Science Foundation-funded study, a team led by ecology professor Rachael Winfree looked at dozens of mid-Atlantic watermelon, cranberry, and blueberry farms. They found that on any one farm, five or six wild bee species were able to provide half of the pollination – but the rest of the work depended on 100 other bee species. (Many farmers use domesticated, non-native honey bee colonies to help with crop pollination.)

Biodiversity isn’t just important for farmers. James Hung, who received NSF funding as a doctoral student working in David Holway‘s lab at the University of California San Diego, investigated the effects of urbanization on changes in wild bee diversity over time. His research showed that human activity breaks up bee habitats and reduces diversity, affecting pollination services. Hung also found that bees living in urban scrub fragments possess relatively less variation in behaviors and food preferences, limiting the range and quality of their pollination services.

“Farmers can plant fallow fields and road edges with flowering plants, preferably plants whose flowering periods overlap,” Winfree says. “They can leave piles of excavated earth when they dig a ditch or a pond, which will give ground-nesting bees a place to live and flowering plants a place to grow.” Farmers also can reduce pesticide use, particularly during crop bloom when more bees are buzzing around their fields.

The average person can help, too, by filling their gardens with diverse, native plant species and limiting pesticides.

Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features

Tags: agriculture, bees, crops, ecology, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, farming, National Science Foundation, NSF, pollinators, Rachael Winree, Research, Rutgers