Cole Lorna J, Baddeley John A, Robertson Duncan, Topp Cairistiona F E, Walker Robin L, Watson Christine A
Integrated Land Management, SRUC, Auchincruive Estate, Ayr KA6 5HW, UK.
Rural Land Use, SRUC, Craibstone Estate, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK.
Agric Ecosyst Environ. 2022 Jan 1;323:107648. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2021.107648.
Insect-pollinated legumes are rich in plant-based proteins making them a vital constituent of sustainable healthy diets for people and livestock. Furthermore, they deliver or support a range of ecosystem services that underpin agricultural production and their prevalence in agricultural landscapes is likely to increase. Under typical implementation and management, the value of legumes to pollinators has, however, been questioned. Through exploring a range of legume crops, grown as monocultures and mixtures, this study aims to identify multifunctional legume cropping systems that optimise forage availability for a diversity of wild pollinators whilst delivering a wide range of agronomic and environmental benefits. This study innovatively explores legume mixtures concurrently with monocultures of the component species using replicated small-plot field trials established in two geographical locations. Observational plots assessed the richness and abundance of floral resources, and wild pollinators (i.e. bumblebees and hoverflies) throughout the peak flowering period. Densely flowering, highly profitable legumes (e.g. and mixes) supported abundant and rich pollinator assemblages. The functional makeup of floral visitors was strongly influenced by flower structure and hoverflies, with their shorter proboscises, were largely constrained to legumes with shallower corolla and open weed species. Floral richness was not a key driver of pollinator assemblages; however, clear intra-specific differences were observed in flowering phenology. Combining functionally distinct legumes with respect to flower structure and phenology, will support a wider suite of pollinating insects and help stabilise the temporal availability of forage. For highly competitive legumes (e.g. and ), planting in discrete patches is recommended to reduce the risk of less competitive species failing in mixtures. Legumes can provide valuable forage for pollinators; however, they fail to meet all resource requirements. They should therefore be used in combination with agri-environmental measures targeted to promote early-season forage (e.g. hedgerows and farm woodlands), open flowers for hoverflies, saprophytic hoverfly larval resources (e.g. ditches and ponds) and nesting habitats (e.g. undisturbed field margins).
虫媒授粉的豆科植物富含植物性蛋白质，是人类和牲畜可持续健康饮食的重要组成部分。此外，它们提供或支持一系列生态系统服务，这些服务是农业生产的基础，而且它们在农业景观中的分布可能会增加。然而，在典型的实施和管理方式下，豆科植物对传粉者的价值受到了质疑。通过研究一系列作为单一作物种植和混合作物种植的豆科作物，本研究旨在确定多功能豆科作物种植系统，该系统在为多种野生传粉者优化草料供应的同时，还能带来广泛的农艺和环境效益。本研究创新性地通过在两个地理位置建立的重复小地块田间试验，将豆科植物混合作物与各组成物种的单一作物种植同时进行研究。观察地块评估了整个盛花期花卉资源以及野生传粉者（即大黄蜂和食蚜蝇）的丰富度和数量。开花密集、利润高的豆科植物（如 和 混合物）支持了丰富多样的传粉者群体。访花者的功能组成受花结构和食蚜蝇的强烈影响，食蚜蝇的喙较短，主要局限于花冠较浅的豆科植物和开放的杂草物种。花卉丰富度不是传粉者群体的关键驱动因素；然而，在开花物候方面观察到了明显的种内差异。在花结构和物候方面结合功能不同的豆科植物，将支持更广泛的传粉昆虫群体，并有助于稳定草料的时间供应。对于竞争力强的豆科植物（如 和 ），建议分块种植，以降低竞争力较弱的物种在混合作物中失败的风险。豆科植物可以为传粉者提供有价值的草料；然而，它们不能满足所有的资源需求。因此，应将其与旨在促进早季草料的农业环境措施（如树篱和农田林地）、为食蚜蝇提供开放花朵、腐生性食蚜蝇幼虫资源（如沟渠和池塘）以及筑巢栖息地（如未受干扰的田边）结合使用。
