| Agroecosystems dominate the U.S. landscape, and conversion of natural land to crop fields is often cited as a leading threat to biodiversity. Agricultural practices designed to enhance biodiversity can provide farms with ecological services such as pollination. Insect pollinators, including bees, are widely considered to be indicators of ecosystem health as a result of their co-evolved relationships with the plants they pollinate.;This study explored whether native plant hedgerows have a positive effect on pollinator presence. Bees were collected from six organically managed farms in Central California, four of which had hedgerows and two that did not. On hedgerow sites, bees were sampled at varying distances out from the hedgerows. Native bee abundance and diversity were markedly greater on hedgerow sites. Additionally, native bee presence and species richness were higher in samples collected within the hedgerow than in those collected at further distances from these native plantings. |
