Removing non-crop flowers within orchards promotes the decline of pollinators, not their conservation: A comment on McDougall et al. (2021)

Abundant and diverse floral resources are needed for the preservation of pollinator populations and the services they provide to human societies. However, pollinators are negatively affected by several agricultural practices, among which pesticide use and 'weed' removal stand out. McDougall et al. (2021) published a paper titled 'Managing orchard groundcover to reduce pollinator foraging post-bloom', where they propose removing the within-field flowering ground vegetation after the mass flowering period of the crop ends, to reduce pesticide exposure. They consider this is a bee conservation strategy, after observing it reduces the abundance and diversity of pollinators within the crop. However, despite assuming this implied a realisation of an expected reduction in pesticide exposure, this was not quantified. Here, we give three main arguments against the proposal of the authors, that is, the need for providing accessible, sufficient, safe and seasonally-spread feeding resources to crop pollinators, the potential role of diverse floral resources in their pesticide tolerance, and the urgent need to reduce pesticide use and impact in agriculture.

Automated summary

Abundant and diverse floral resources are crucial for the survival of pollinator populations and the benefits they provide to human societies. However, several agricultural practices, such as pesticide use and weed removal, have negative effects on pollinators. The proposal to remove ground vegetation after the crop's flowering period may reduce pesticide exposure, but it has limitations in terms of pollinator abundance and diversity. Additionally, it fails to address the importance of providing accessible, sufficient, safe, and seasonally-spread feeding resources for crop pollinators.