Abstract
Insect pollinators play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, there are concerning declines in pollinators worldwide, with agricultural conversions and intensification being one of the largest drivers. Therefore, understanding the relationship between features of the landscape and pollinator communities is crucial for managing pollinator biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. We sampled avocado-associated pollinator communities on 24 avocado orchards using flight intercept pan traps. The percentage of vegetation, connectivity, spectral functional diversity and spectral species richness for both native and woody (both native and exotic) vegetation was measured surrounding the avocados at three spatial scales (250 m, 500 m, 1 km). We then estimated the relative influence of these landscape factors on pollinator species richness, evenness, abundance, biomass and mean body size. We found a complex suite of effects of the landscape on avocado pollinators, with multiple variables identified as important for describing variation in pollinator biodiversity. Specifically, spectral plant diversity was shown to decrease pollinator abundance, the connectivity of the woody vegetation decreased pollinator evenness and increasing woody vegetation had a positive effect on pollinator mean body mass. The findings of this study contrast previous studies suggesting that both native and exotic vegetation may be equally important for enhancing pollinator biodiversity. Our results suggest that the most effective approach to increase pollinator diversity, density and body size in avocado orchards is to increase the presence of mixed vegetation hedgerows and improving nearby woody areas.