An ecological synthesis about the effects of floral plantings on crop pollination by bees

Abstract

One of the UNs 17 Sustainable Development Goals is a world free from hunger, with sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices (SDG 2). However, as we approach the 2030 deadline, global food security, a multidimensional challenge, remains unsolved. With a growing human population, food demand will likely increase, leading to more intensive agricultural practices that put bees and their pollination services at risk. Conserving bees is, thus, crucial to ensuring our food security. A promising solution is cultivating floral plantings alongside crops, which can enhance ecosystem services such as pollination. However, floral plantings may also compete with crops for bees. To optimize their benefits, we need to understand when floral plantings facilitate bee spillover to crops, supporting both bee conservation and agricultural productivity. To address this, we synthesized existing knowledge using a research weaving approach, which combines bibliometric and systematic mapping. Our synthesis suggests that the effects of floral plantings result from a complex interplay of factors, including crop type, bee species, floral planting composition, and environmental conditions. To clarify this interplay, we propose an integrative hypothesis to guide future studies. Finally, our results highlight the need for stronger collaboration among researchers to better understand the role of floral plantings in ecological intensification.