Wild bees (Apoidea, Anthophila) of south-west France: more than 10 years of inventories in mosaic landscapes of "Vallées et Coteaux de Gascogne" (ZA-PYGAR).

Background: The reported massive decline of arthropods and particularly of pollinators such as wild bees, in terms of abundance and richness, is a threat for crop production and wild plant biodiversity conservation. This decline is mainly explained by a combination of drivers at local- and landscape-scale related to intensive farming practices. Assessing the evolution of wild bee communities in agricultural ecosystems and their response to such practices is needed to address conservation purposes.

Research on agroforestry systems and biodiversity conservation: what can we conclude so far and what should we improve?

Through a meta-analysis, Mupepele et al. (BMC Ecol Evol 21:1-193, 2021) assessed the effects of European agroforestry systems on biodiversity, estimated by species richness or species diversity. They showed that the effects of silvoarable and silvopastoral systems depend on the systems they are compared to and the taxa studied.

Data from extensive comparative measurements of conventional, conservation and organic agricultures in southwestern France.

This article present observational and experimental data describing a range of biotic and abiotic parameters that can be related to ecosystem services under contrasted types of crop management: conventional, conservation and organic agricultures. Ninety fields, either cultivated with winter wheat or fava bean, located in Southwestern France, near Toulouse, were monitored for two growing seasons (2014-2016). The dataset encompass data about crop pests (aphids, grain borer, bean beetles, slugs), crop pest natural enemies (hoverflies, parasitoids, predators), soil sensitivity to erosion, crop productivity, pathogenic fungal infection and root colonization by mycorrhiza.

A critical analysis of the potential for EU Common Agricultural Policy measures to support wild pollinators on farmland.

Agricultural intensification and associated loss of high-quality habitats are key drivers of insect pollinator declines. With the aim of decreasing the environmental impact of agriculture, the 2014 EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) defined a set of habitat and landscape features (Ecological Focus Areas: EFAs) farmers could select from as a requirement to receive basic farm payments. To inform the post-2020 CAP, we performed a European-scale evaluation to determine how different EFA options vary in their potential to support insect pollinators under standard and pollinator-friendly management, as well as the extent of farmer uptake.