Ecological network approaches for promoting pollinators in agriculture

Publication date: 19/12/2022
Extent: 36 pages

Contributions by: Darren M. Evans and Fredric M. Windsor, Newcastle University, UK

Chapter synopsis:

Interactions between plants and pollinators, and thus pollination, are network-based processes. Many early studies of plant-pollinator networks focused on interactions within agroecosystems, providing a substantial knowledge-base around agricultural pollinators and how they can be promoted. There is therefore an opportunity to use network ecology to understand, support and enhance pollination services through farm management and integrated decision-making. This chapter aims to provide an introduction to network thinking, as well as examples and ideas of how it can be applied to promote and manage pollination services in a range of agroecosystems. To do so we: (i) describe the important and agriculturally relevant characteristics and structures in plant-pollinator networks; (ii) demonstrate how plant-pollinator networks have been assessed from field to national scales; and (iii) discuss the developments required to further operationalise management and conservation based on pollination networks.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2022.0111.21