Agricultural landscapes must include at least 20% of natural habitats: benefits for pollinators and crop pollination

LUCAS ALEJANDRO GARIBALDI; FACUNDO J. ODDI; MICHAEL ORR; ALICE C. HUGHES; FERNANDA SANTIBAÑEZ; CHAO D ZHU

Montreal

Congreso; 46th Apimondia - International Apicultural Congress; 2019

Governments aroundthe world increasingly acknowledge the need for better policyinstruments to enhance natural and semi-natural habitats (NSH) withinagricultural landscapes. However, the area of NSH that is requiredcan vary enormously across nations, even when agroecologicalconditions are similar. This variation reflects complicatedpolitical, social, economical, and cultural trends across countries,but also results from the lack of clear guidelines from the globalscientific community. Such guidelines are urgently needed, as NSH arequickly decreasing in agricultural landscapes worlwide. Indeed, thedestruction of NSH has been identified as a principal cause of lowerand less stable crop yields, and the loss of many of nature?scontributions that are essential for good quality of life. Here wepropose that NSH must comprise at least 20% of the area ofagricultural landscapes and discuss the benefits for pollinators andcrop pollinationp { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }