Global effects of land-use intensity on local pollinator biodiversity

JOSEPH MILLARD; CHARLOTTE OUTHWAITE; ROBYN KINNERSLEY; ROBIN FREEMAN; RICHARD GREGORY; OPEYEMI ADEDOJA; SABRINA GAVINI; ESTHER KIOKO; MICHAEL KUHLMANN; JEFF OLLERTON; ZONG-XIN REN; TIM NEWBOLD

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

Nature Publishing Group

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2021

2041-1723

Pollinating species are in decline globally, with land use an important driver. However, most of the evidence on which these claims are made is patchy, based on studies with low taxonomic and geographic representativeness. Here, we model the effect of land-use type and intensity on global pollinator biodiversity, using a local-scale database covering 303 studies, 12,170 sites, and 4,502 pollinating species. Relative to a primary vegetation baseline, we show that low levels of intensity can have beneficial effects on pollinator biodiversity. Within most anthropogenic land-use types however, increasing intensity is associated with significant reductions, particularly in urban (43% richness and 62% abundance reduction compared to the least intensive urban sites), and pasture (75% abundance reduction) areas. We further show that on cropland, the strongly negative response to intensity is restricted to tropical areas, and that the direction and magnitude of response differs among taxonomic groups. Our findings confirm widespread effects of land-use intensity on pollinators, most significantly in the tropics, where land use is predicted to change rapidly.