03542naa a2200289 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400360007410000180011024501100012826000090023850006820024752019910092965300270292065300250294765300210297265300240299365300150301765300410303265300250307370000190309870000190311770000190313670000140315577300830316910648102024-09-04       2024    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d  a1872-88557 a10.1007/s11829-024-10094-12DOI1 aMARRERO, H.J.  aLandscape heterogeneity affects pollen transport by pollinators in agroecosystems.h[electronic resource]  c2024  aArticle history: Received 20 March 2024, Accepted 27 July 2024, Published online 3 August 2024. -- Correspondence: Marrero, H.J.; Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de las Zonas Semiáridas, CONICET, Camino de la Carrindanga Km. 7, Bahía Blanca, Argentina; email: hugomarrero@gmail.com -- Handling Editor: Heikki Hokkanen. -- Funding: Field work was supported by FONCyT-ANPCyT, grants PICT-2008-12504 and 0851, and analysis and writing by grants PICT-2014-3168 and PICT-2017-3336, PIP-2020. -- This study was funded by Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, 12504, Hugo Marrero, 0851, Hugo Marrero. -- The online version contains supplementary material.  aABSTRACT.- Landscape heterogeneity may affect components of biodiversity, including pollinators and the ecosystem function they perform. Landscape heterogeneity may also affect pollinator movement and pollen and gene flow. We assessed how changes in landscape compositional heterogeneity generated by agricultural activities affect the pollen transport service provided by insect pollinators. In eleven agricultural fragments with different landscape heterogeneity, we caught pollinators foraging on flowers and extracted their body pollen loads, discriminating among crop, native, and exotic spontaneous plants. At a local scale, the fragments corresponded to 1-ha plots under agricultural management, or to restored plots without agriculture. The landscape heterogeneity of each fragment was characterized using centered circular areas with different diameters (300, 600, and 1000 m). We then calculated the Shannon Diversity Index as a landscape compositional heterogeneity estimator and using the different landscape patches identified (semi-natural pastures, field crops, woodlands, among others). Through generalized linear mixed models, we found that the amount of pollen transported by individual pollinators was positively related with landscape heterogeneity for all pollen grain categories, but the slope exhibiting a notably sharper incline for crop plant species. In addition, crop pollen load carried by individual pollinator was lower than native and exotic spontaneous pollen, highlighting the importance of these species in agroecosystems. Our findings indicate that increasing landscape heterogeneity can enhance pollen transport, especially from crops and exotic plants. However, to ensure the sustainability of pollination services and agroecosystem functions, it is crucial to protect native plant species and encourage their growth on crop edges, thereby improving agroecosystem conservation. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.  aAgricultural landscape  aEntomophilous plants  aPollen transport  aPollination service  aPollinator  aSustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  aZero hunger - Goal 21 aTORRETTA, J.P.1 aBALDASSINI, P.1 aVÁZQUEZ, D.P.1 aMEDAN, D.  tArthropod-Plant Interactions, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-024-10094-1