Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41559-025-02924-z
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Pesticides and habitat loss additively reduce wild bees in crop fields
Author Knauer, A.; Adhikari, S.; Andersson, G.K.S.; Andrieu, E.; Báldi, A.; Batáry, P.; Bosch, J.; Bushmann, S.L.; Cano, D.; Carrié, R.; Danforth, B.N.; Drummond, F.A.; Esquerré, D.; García, D.; Gratton, C.; Hambäck, P.A.; Happe, A.-K.; Hederström, V.; Holzschuh, A.; Jeanneret, P.; Kaasik, R.; Kehinde, T.; Knapp, J.; Kovács-Hostyánszki, A.; Kremen, C.; Leyer, I.; Lüscher, G.; Mallinger, R.; Marja, R.; Martínez-Núñez, C.; Menalled, F.D.; M’Gonigle, L.K.; Miñarro, M.; Mupepele, A.-C.; Nicholson, C.C.; Otieno, M.; Ouin, A.; Park, M.G.; Pereira-Peixoto, M.-H.; Pérez, A.J; Potts, S.G.; Reineke, A.; Rey, P.J.; Ricketts, T.H.; Rivers-Moore, J.; Roberts, S.; Roquer-Beni, L.; Rundlöf, M.; Samnegård, U.; Samways, M.J.; Schwarz, J.M.; Schweiger, O.; Smith, H.G.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Sutter, L.; Tamburini, G.; Uzman, D.; Veromann, E.; Vialatte, A.; Viik, E.; Brown, M.J.F.; Klein, A.-M.; Albrecht, M.
Year 2026
Department BZF; iDiv
Volume 10
Issue 1
Page From 95
Page To 104
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30281617
Supplements Supplement 1
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Abstract Pesticide use and habitat loss are major anthropogenic drivers of bee decline, raising global concerns about impaired crop pollination. However, the relative importance of these stressors and their combined impact on bee assemblages comprising species with different traits, such as body size or nesting strategy, remains unknown. Here we addressed these key knowledge gaps in a global quantitative synthesis analysing bee assemblage data from 681 crop fields across three continents. We found that both local pesticide hazards and decreasing proportions of semi-natural habitats in surrounding landscapes negatively affected wild bee abundance and species richness in crop fields, while pesticides additionally reduced functional and phylogenetic diversity. Semi-natural habitat availability did not buffer against these negative pesticide effects, nor did we identify any specific traits rending bees more vulnerable to one of the two drivers. Our findings highlight the pressing need to reduce non-target effects of pesticide use and emphasize that conservation and restoration of semi-natural habitats successfully promote wild bees, but are insufficient strategies to mitigate pesticide-driven losses of wild bee pollinators from crop fields.
Knauer, A., Adhikari, S., Andersson, G.K.S., Andrieu, E., Báldi, A., Batáry, P., Bosch, J., Bushmann, S.L., Cano, D., Carrié, R., Danforth, B.N., Drummond, F.A., Esquerré, D., García, D., Gratton, C., Hambäck, P.A., Happe, A.-K., Hederström, V., Holzschuh, A., Jeanneret, P., Kaasik, R., Kehinde, T., Knapp, J., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Kremen, C., Leyer, I., Lüscher, G., Mallinger, R., Marja, R., Martínez-Núñez, C., Menalled, F.D., M’Gonigle, L.K., Miñarro, M., Mupepele, A.-C., Nicholson, C.C., Otieno, M., Ouin, A., Park, M.G., Pereira-Peixoto, M.-H., Pérez, A.J, Potts, S.G., Reineke, A., Rey, P.J., Ricketts, T.H., Rivers-Moore, J., Roberts, S., Roquer-Beni, L., Rundlöf, M., Samnegård, U., Samways, M.J., Schwarz, J.M., Schweiger, O., Smith, H.G., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Sutter, L., Tamburini, G., Uzman, D., Veromann, E., Vialatte, A., Viik, E., Brown, M.J.F., Klein, A.-M., Albrecht, M. (2026):
Pesticides and habitat loss additively reduce wild bees in crop fields
10 (1), 95 - 104
10.1038/s41559-025-02924-z