Sown Wildflowers Enhance Habitats of Pollinators and Beneficial Arthropods in a Tomato Field Margin

We evaluated the capacity of selected plants, sown along a processing tomato field margin in central Greece and natural vegetation, to attract beneficial and Hymenoptera pollinating insects and questioned whether they can distract pollinators from crop flowers. Measurements of flower cover and attracted pollinators and beneficial arthropods were recorded from early-May to mid-July, during the cultivation period of the crop. Flower cover was higher in the sown mixtures compared to natural vegetation and was positively correlated with the number of attracted pollinators. The sown Glebionis coronaria, Coriandrum sativum, Anethum graveolens, and Fagopyrum esculentum attracted mainly wild bees, which were the most abundant pollinating insects. In the natural vegetation, Rapistrum rugosum attracted mainly honeybees, while Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae, and Apiaceae species attracted wild bees. Beneficial arthropod abundance and diversity were higher in the sown mixture. Tomato flowers were visited by a small number of wild bees. Their number was not affected by the distance from the field margin, indicating no distraction effect from the sown or natural vegetation flowering plants. Our results suggest that selected flowering plants can improve the field margin habitats for pollinating insects and beneficial arthropods, but more work is needed to elucidate the effect on crop pollination.

Automated summary

The study found that sowing specific plants in central Greece can attract wild bees and other pollinating insects, while also increasing the number and diversity of beneficial arthropods in field margin habitats. Crop flowers were not affected by the presence of flowering plants in the sown or natural vegetation.