Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.
Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.
J Econ Entomol. 2019 Dec 9;112(6):2534-2544. doi: 10.1093/jee/toz191.
Improving pollinator habitat on farmlands is needed to further wild bee conservation and to sustain crop pollination in light of relationships between global declines in pollinators and reductions in floral resources. One management strategy gaining much attention is the use of wildflower strips planted alongside crops to provide supplemental floral resources for pollinators. However, farmer adoption of pollinator-friendly strategies has been minimal, likely due to uncertainty about costs and benefits of providing non-crop flowering plants for bees. Over 3 yr, on four diversified farms in Montana, United States, we estimated the potential economic profit of harvesting and selling wildflower seeds collected from flower strips implemented for wild bee conservation, as an incentive for farmers to adopt this management practice. We compared the potential profitability of selling small retail seed packets versus bulk wholesale seed. Our economic analyses indicated that potential revenue from retail seed sales exceeded the costs associated with establishing and maintaining wildflower strips after the second growing season. A wholesale approach, in contrast, resulted in considerable net economic losses. We provide proof-of-concept that, under retail scenarios, the sale of native wildflower seeds may provide an alternative economic benefit that, to our knowledge, remains unexplored. The retail seed-sales approach could encourage greater farmer adoption of wildflower strips as a pollinator-conservation strategy in agroecosystems. The approach could also fill a need for regionally produced, native wildflower seed for habitat restoration and landscaping aimed at conserving native plants and pollinators.
为了进一步保护野生蜜蜂，并维持作物授粉，需要改善农田传粉媒介栖息地，因为全球传粉媒介数量减少与花卉资源减少之间存在关联。一种越来越受到关注的管理策略是在作物旁边种植野花带，为传粉媒介提供额外的花卉资源。然而，农民对传粉媒介友好型策略的采用一直很少，这可能是由于对为蜜蜂提供非作物开花植物的成本和收益存在不确定性。在美国蒙大拿州的四个多样化农场，我们进行了为期 3 年的研究，评估了从用于保护野生蜜蜂的野花带中收集和销售野花种子的潜在经济利润，以此作为鼓励农民采用这种管理实践的激励措施。我们比较了销售小零售种子包和散装批发种子的潜在盈利能力。我们的经济分析表明，在第二个生长季后，零售种子销售的潜在收入超过了建立和维护野花带的相关成本。相比之下，批发方式导致了巨大的净经济损失。我们提供了一个概念验证，即根据零售情况，销售本地野花种子可能提供一种替代的经济利益，据我们所知，这种利益尚未得到探索。零售种子销售方法可以鼓励农民更广泛地采用野花带作为农业生态系统中的传粉媒介保护策略。该方法还可以满足对地区生产的本地野花种子的需求，用于旨在保护本地植物和传粉媒介的栖息地恢复和景观美化。
