Flowering plant communities mediate the effects of habitat composition and configuration on wild pollinator communities

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14666

Abstract/Summary

1. There is strong evidence that landscape-scale factors such as habitat diversity, composition and configuration are important drivers of declines in pollinators and pollination services. However, context and species-specific responses make it challenging to draw general conclusions about the most important components of landscapes that support diverse and abundant pollinator communities. 2. In this study, we took a functional-traits approach to community assembly and tested the hypothesis that landscape properties act most strongly on pollinators indirectly, through their influence on flowering plant communities. Using plant and pollinator data from 96 landscapes in Britain, we tested the associations between plant and pollinator communities and local environmental factors, such as habitat cover and configuration, using path analysis based on Mantel and partial Mantel statistics. 3. When all pollinators were considered, we found that the environmental factors had stronger links to the composition of flowering plant communities than to the composition of pollinator communities. Further, the flowering plant community was strongly linked to the pollinator community suggesting a mediating role between land use and pollinators. When separating the pollinator community into taxonomic groups, we found the same result for hoverflies, but wild bees were linked to both environmental factors and flowering plants. 4. We further explored these links with structural equation models using the response-effect trait framework as a guiding principle. We found strong evidence that land-use composition and configuration influence the trait distribution and functional diversity of the pollinator community via plant community composition. 5. These findings suggest that the indirect effect of land use on pollinators via flowering plants should be considered in informing the design of pollinator friendly landscapes and in future research of the effects of land use and management on wild pollinators.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14666
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0269-8463
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	community ordination, environmental filtering, floral resources, functional diversity, landscape ecology, pollinator community composition, traits
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Botany
Date made live:	03 Oct 2024 12:30 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538146

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14666

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0269-8463

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

community ordination, environmental filtering, floral resources, functional diversity, landscape ecology, pollinator community composition, traits