Biodiverse Management of Perennial Flower Margins in Farmland: Meandering Mowing by ‘Three-Strip Management’ to Boost Pollinators and Beneficial Insects

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2024-12, Vol.15 (12), p.953
• Main Authors: Parmentier, Laurian, Vanderstappen, Hannah, Haesaert, Geert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural pests; Agriculture; Bees; Beneficial arthropods; Biodiversity; Biological diversity; Butterflies; Butterflies & moths; Comparative analysis; Crops; Ecosystem management; Ecosystems; Farms; Flowers; Flowers & plants; Grasses; Grasslands; Habitats; Hill numbers; Insects; Intensive farming; Management methods; meandering mowing; Mowing; Natural enemies; perennial flower margins; Pest control; Pests; Plant reproduction; Plant species; Plants (botany); plant–pollinator networks; Pollination; Pollinators; Predators; spatio-temporal variation; Strip; three-strip management
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects15120953

Agricultural intensification has led to significant declines in beneficial insect populations, such as pollinators and natural enemies, along with their ecosystem services. The installation of perennial flower margins in farmland is a popular agri-environmental scheme to mitigate these losses, promoting biodiversity, pollination, and pest control. However, outcomes can vary widely, and recent insights into flower margins in an agricultural context suggest that management could be an important contributor to this variation. This study evaluated two mowing management regimes: the new “three-strip management” method with uneven, curved mowing lines and regular phased mowing as a control method. During the third year of application, we evaluated the effects on the alpha diversity indices of pollinators and natural enemies, as well as plant–pollinator visitation networks. Curved three-strip management significantly increased the abundance of all pollinator groups (+44%) and natural enemies (+50%), and the taxonomic richness and diversity of pollinators, especially for rarer solitary bees. Floral diversity was also higher, with more unique plants blooming in early spring and late summer, generating more unique plant–pollinator interactions (+54%) and a positive impact on multiple network-level properties. Our findings provide new evidence that nature-based management methods can be a win–win solution, creating high-quality habitats that enhance the insect diversity of various groups, support associated ecosystem services, and help restore overall farmland biodiversity.