Insect pollinators along gradients in differently structured landscapes: importance of the edge effect and small- vs. large-scale agriculture

This project will investigate pollinator distribution, spillover, colony fitness, and individual navigation capacity in the agricultural landscape and their relationships with small- vs. large-scale agriculture, forest proximity, and crop type (wheat vs. oilseed rape). The project is divided into four work packages (WPs).

In WP1 I will conduct a meta-analysis following a systematic review on how abundances of different pollinator species are related to the gradient from the field edge towards field centre (the edge effect).

In WP2 I will study bumblebee colony traffic rate, colony growth rate, queen brood cells, and pollen baskets (consumed food diversity) using DNA meta-barcoding.

In WP3 I will use a novel approach combining marking bumblebees with RFID tags with a homing experiment to increase understanding of pollinator movements and navigation capacity in the agricultural landscape.

In WP4 I will communicate the ongoing work and results of the project via scientific and popular-science articles, as well as blog posts and other information-sharing channels.The major innovation of this proposal is the combination of methods used in agroecology, movement ecology and landscape ecology.

My project includes large-scale fieldwork studies in Hungary and Austria.

The study results will enable me to draw more robust conclusions about pollinator distribution, fitness, movements, agroecology, food production, and target the highest-level ecological and multidisciplinary journals.

I will target my project results to communicate my findings to a wide audience including consultation with policy makers, stakeholders, agricultural producers and the general public.

The project results will also have implications for increasing the effectiveness of agri-environment schemes for biodiversity.