An international research team found that fields and farms with more varieties of insect pollinators provide stable pollination services to nearby crops every year. This is the first study on pollinator species stability over multiple years across the world. The team studied insect pollinators and with the goal to help reduce fluctuations in crop pollination over time.

Year over year, variations in pollination services cause boom and bust cycles in crop harvests, which damage the agricultural output and farmer livelihoods. Stable and constant pollination is important in food production.

The team collected wild pollinator data from hundreds of field sites in 12 countries across six continents over multiple years. They studied the populations of pollinating insects near 21 different crop species to explore their influences on stability over time.Honeybee on cotton plant. Source: Deepa Senapathi / University of Reading

The team found the secret to consistent crop harvest is to encourage pollinator diversity on and near farmland. Insect pollination supports the reproduction of at least 78 wild plants and contributing to the pollination of 75% of major crops globally.

Wild insect pollinators are declining in northwestern Europe. Understanding how insect populations change over time and the impacts are important to not only the future of the crop but also the farmers.

The team’s findings could influence how agricultural land is managed. The study highlights how land managers and farmers could consider interventions to support pollinator diversity on their land which leads to long-term benefits in food production.

Researchers from University of Freiburg (Germany), Agroscope (Switzerland), Wageningen University (the Netherlands), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (Argentina), Rutgers University, University of Calcutta, Lund University (Sweden), Universidade Federal do Ceará (Brazil) and University of Reading contributed to this study, which is published in the Proceedings of Royal Society B.