Critical habitat thresholds for effective pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes

Biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes is declining, but evidence-based conservation targets to guide international policies for such landscapes are lacking. We present a framework for informing habitat conservation policies based on the enhancement of habitat quantity and quality and define thresholds of habitat quantity at which it becomes effective to also prioritize habitat quality. We applied this framework to insect pollinators, an important part of agroecosystem biodiversity, by synthesizing 59 studies from 19 countries. Given low habitat quality, hoverflies had the lowest threshold at 6% semi-natural habitat cover, followed by solitary bees (16%), bumble bees (18%), and butterflies (37%). These figures represent minimum habitat thresholds in agricultural landscapes, but when habitat quantity is restricted, marked increases in quality are required to reach similar outcomes.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2025-09-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr2146
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Plant and animal studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.03
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article

Critical habitat thresholds for effective pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes

Sebastian Hopfenmüller, Johan Ekroos, Montserrat Vilà, Thomas J. Wood et al.
1 citations
Science
Plant and animal studies
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article

Critical habitat thresholds for effective pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes

Sebastian Hopfenmüller, Johan Ekroos, Montserrat Vilà, Thomas J. Wood, Vivien von Königslöw, Dave Goulson, Julia I. Piko, Supratim Laha, Birgit Jauker, Gabriel Marcacci, David Kleijn, Marcos Monasterolo, Jane Morrison, Riccardo Bommarco, Kathy R. Denning, Jordi Izquierdo, Marco F. Tanis, D. I. McCracken, Dara A. Stanley, Lorna J. Cole, Anikó Kovács‐Hostyánszki, José Luis González Andújar, Maj Rundlöf, Henrik G. Smith, Ingo Graß, Andràs Báldí, Teja Tscharntke, Nicholas I. Wilkinson, Chloé A. Raderschall, Yael Mandelik, Felix Fornoff, Mark A. K. Gillespie, Ainhoa Magrach, Bryan L. Foster, Lora A. Morandin, Simon Geoffrey Potts, Juan P. González‐Varo, William E. Kunin, Laura Riggi, Gabriela M. Quinlan, Annika L. Hass, Jennifer B. Wickens, Jane C. Stout, Benjamin B. Phillips, Louis Sutter, Thijs P. M. Fijen, Nicole Beyer, Anna Sofie Persson, Ingolf D Steffan-Dewenter, Tohar Roth, Adam J. Vanbergen, Deepa Senapathi, Jens Åström, Felix Kirsch, Elena Krimmer, Eileen F. Power, Parthiba Basu, Sandra Lindström, Jörg Albrecht, Ante Vujić, Jochen Krauß, Catrin Westphal, Jeff Ollerton, Alexandra‐Maria Klein, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Matthias Albrecht, Sam Tarrant, Berry J. Brosi, José M. Herrera, Mariano Devoto, Eveliina Kallioniemi, Claire Kremen, Rufus Isaacs, Michiel F. WallisDeVries, Gabriella A. Bishop, Andrea Holzschuh, Jeroen Scheper, Nico Blüthgen, Lisette van Kolfschoten, Ígnasi Bartomeus, Isabelle Badenhausser, Hamutahl Cohen, Lauren Catherine Ponisio, Victoria J. Wickens, Ai Wen, Åsa Berggren, Sonja Mudri Stojnic
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes is declining, but evidence-based conservation targets to guide international policies for such landscapes are lacking. We present a framework for informing habitat conservation policies based on the enhancement of habitat quantity and quality and define thresholds of habitat quantity at which it becomes effective to also prioritize habitat quality. We applied this framework to insect pollinators, an important part of agroecosystem biodiversity, by synthesizing 59 studies from 19 countries. Given low habitat quality, hoverflies had the lowest threshold at 6% semi-natural habitat cover, followed by solitary bees (16%), bumble bees (18%), and butterflies (37%). These figures represent minimum habitat thresholds in agricultural landscapes, but when habitat quantity is restricted, marked increases in quality are required to reach similar outcomes.

ScienceVol. 389(6767)
University College Dublin (IE), University of Calcutta (IN), University of Hohenheim (DE), Ikerbasque (ES), Bishop's University (CA), University of Northern Iowa (US), Uppsala University (SE), Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL), Pennsylvania State University (US), University of Leeds (GB), Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), University of Helsinki (FI), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (GB), Kunming Institute of Botany (CN), Natural Environment Research Council (GB), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Kansas (US), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of Freiburg (DE), University of Sussex (GB), University of Novi Sad (RS), Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (NO), University of Oregon (US), Lund University (SE), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE), University of Washington (US), Trinity College Dublin (IE), Kyoto University (JP), University of Exeter (GB), Universidad de Buenos Aires (AR), University of Würzburg (DE), Scotland's Rural College (GB), Swiss Ornithological Institute (CH), Office of Technology Transfer (US), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), National University of Catamarca (AR), Technische Universität Darmstadt (DE), Vestlandsforsking (NO), University of Northampton (GB), Universidad de Cádiz (ES), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Estación Biológica de Doñana (ES), Basque Centre for Climate Change (ES), Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (DE), Institute of Ecology and Botany (HU), Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (DE), Dutch Butterfly Conservation (NL), Pollinator Partnership (US), HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU), Institut Agro Dijon (FR), Victoria School of Management (CH), Agroscope (CH), Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Prairies et Plantes Fourragères (FR), Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (ES), Nordwestdeutsche Forstliche Versuchsanstalt (DE), Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NO), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NO), Bolin Centre for Climate Research (SE), University of Neuchâtel (CH), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE), University of Reading (GB), University of Göttingen (DE), Universidad de Sevilla (ES), Ventura College (US), Michigan State University (US), Wageningen University & Research (NL), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Plant and animal studies
3.03
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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