A combination of crops: faba bean and wheat. Credit: Horst-Henning Steinmann
There are sometimes too few flowering crops in agricultural landscapes, which is one purpose for the decline of pollinating bugs. Researchers on the University of Göttingen have now investigated how a combination of crops of fava beans (broad beans) and wheat impacts the variety of pollinating bugs. They discovered that areas of combined crops in contrast with areas of single crops are visited equally typically by foraging bees. Their outcomes had been printed within the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.
The researchers noticed and counted foraging honeybees and wild bees in mixtures of wheat and fava bean and in pure cultures that solely contained fava beans. “We had anticipated that the combined crops with fewer flowers can be visited much less often by bees for foraging than single crops,” says Ph.D. pupil Felix Kirsch from the Functional Agrobiodiversity analysis group, University of Göttingen. “To our shock, this was not the case.”
This may very well be on account of a number of causes. “Our combined cultures had been much less dense than pure cultures, which probably elevated the visibility of the flowers. This may need attracted the equally giant variety of bees to the combined cultures,” suggests Dr. Annika Haß, postdoctoral researcher within the Functional Agrobiodiversity analysis group.
A bumblebee feeding from the flower of a faba bean. Credit: Nicole Beyer
“In addition, lowered competitors between the fava bean crops in combined cultures may imply that they will make investments extra sources within the manufacturing of nectar and pollen to extend their attractiveness to bees,” provides Professor Wolfgang Link, head of the group for Breeding Research fava Bean.
“Mixed cultivation of wheat and…
2023-01-20 14:12:52 A combination of crops gives ecological advantages for agricultural landscapes, discover researchers
Link from phys.org