Project

Modelling crop pollination: a framework for predicting managed and wild bee pollination services

Code
1SA3V26N
Duration
01 November 2025 → 31 October 2029
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Promotor
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Ecosystem services
    • Landscape ecology
    • Natural resource management
  • Agricultural and food sciences
    • Sustainable agriculture
    • Horticultural crop production
Keywords
Spatially explicit mechanistic modeling Wild bee management Crop pollination
 
Project description
Managing pollination services in agricultural landscapes is essential for pollination dependent crops, especially sweet cherry. Traditional practices often involve allocating honey bee hives for pollination, despite evidence suggesting that wild bees are more efficient pollinators. The efficiency of wild bees is attributed to their diverse functional traits. The abundance and thus also their pollination services are enhanced by semi-natural habitats within agricultural landscapes, as these provide essential floral and nesting resources. Yet what we lack are clear guidelines for farmers seeking optimal pollination of their fruit trees; i.e do they need to invest in honey bees or in landscape quality improvements to boost wild pollinator populations? Spatially explicit mechanistic modelling can predict pollination services by wild bees based on landscape quality, plus how managing honey bee hive density interact with it. The project aims to further elaborate on these interactions, by expanding the knowledge on the food resource overlap between honey bees and wild bees in different habitats. Additionally, we will include the possibility to predict pollination services instead of bee abundances in the crop. At the end, this model will be validated with measurements of bee abundance and pollination in the crop. Eventually, we will translate these spatially explicit mechanistic models into clear case studies and accessible tools for non-scientific audiences.