Co-Flowering Species Richness Increases Pollinator Visitation to Apple Flowers

Co-flowering plants can experience an array of interactions, ranging from facilitation to competition, the direction and strength which are often dependent on relative abundance diversity plant species involved foraging behavior their pollinators. Understanding interactions between plant–pollinator networks how they change over time is particularly important within agricultural systems, such as apples, that flower en masse also contain non-crop co-flowering both farm surrounding landscape. We determined degree overlap pollinator two varieties apple (Granny Smith Pink Lady) orchards wider vegetation matrix in apple-growing regions (Orange Bilpin) Australia. surveyed at key stages cropping cycle: before mass flowering; during king, peak late blooms; and, finally, once flowering had finished. Overall, we found considerable visitor assemblage apples orchard. The introduced honeybee (Apis mellifera) was most frequent all three types times Orange. However, Bilpin, a native stingless bee (Tetragonula carbonaria) A. mellifera were highly visitors, on- off-crop. Numerous bees, flies Lepidoptera commonly visited locations. native-bee visitation flowers positively correlated with richness (within orchard matrix); however, by bees decreased area landscape increased. Our study highlights importance maintaining diverse communities local increase support wide variety pollinators horticultural production systems.