Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1002/eap.70279
Lizenz creative commons licence
Titel (primär) Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe
Autor Wyver, C.; Andrić, A.; Biegerl, C.; Blomqvist, S.; Dominik, C. ORCID logo ; Feldmann, N.; Fiordaliso, W.; Garratt, M.; Holzschuh, A.; Honchar, H.; Karise, R.; Knežević, M.; Korten, H.; Lescot, S.; Liiskmann, E.; MacArthur, J.; Mänd, M.; Michez, D.; Öckinger, E.; Schweiger, O.; Skendžić, T.; Smith, H.G.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Truslove, L.; Veselić, S.; Vujanović, D.; Senapathi, D.; Potts, S.G.
Quelle Ecological Applications
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
Department BZF; iDiv
Band/Volume 36
Heft 4
Seite von e70279
Sprache englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Daten-/Softwarelinks https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17521621
Supplements Supplement 1
Keywords disturbance; Europe; floral enhancement; pollinators; road verges; traffic
Abstract Roads are vital for human societies, yet they can also have negative impacts on the ecological communities that live in close proximity to them. Insect pollinators, which nest and forage in road verges running alongside roads, are a group of particular importance. These verges may act as an “ecological trap,” drawing insect pollinators into contact with traffic, increasing the risk of pollinator-traffic collisions. Spanning six European regions, we evaluated the complex relationships between traffic, road verge floral composition, and surrounding land use to understand how these factors influence abundance and richness of bees, butterflies, and hoverflies sampled within road verges. Across the study, we observed 10,960 pollinators belonging to 293 species of bees, butterflies, and hoverflies. We observed greater pollinator abundance in verges with higher flower cover, and greater pollinator richness in verges with more species of flowering plants. Lower abundances of bees and butterflies and lower species richness of bees were observed when traffic speed in the adjacent road was higher. This study indicates that road verges with abundant and diverse floral resources support more abundant and diverse pollinator populations, especially on verges alongside lower speed roads. We recommend that lower speed roads should be prioritized for floral enhancements.
Wyver, C., Andrić, A., Biegerl, C., Blomqvist, S., Dominik, C., Feldmann, N., Fiordaliso, W., Garratt, M., Holzschuh, A., Honchar, H., Karise, R., Knežević, M., Korten, H., Lescot, S., Liiskmann, E., MacArthur, J., Mänd, M., Michez, D., Öckinger, E., Schweiger, O., Skendžić, T., Smith, H.G., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Truslove, L., Veselić, S., Vujanović, D., Senapathi, D., Potts, S.G. (2026):
Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe
Ecol. Appl. 36 (4), e70279
10.1002/eap.70279