Local diversification enhances pollinator visitation to strawberry and may improve pollination and marketability

Numerous studies show that semi-natural habitats within agricultural landscapes benefit native pollinating insects and increase resultant crop pollination services. More recently, evidence is emerging diversification techniques on farms, as well increased compositional configurational heterogeneity the cropped portion of landscapes, enhance pollinator communities. However, to date, only a few have investigated how diversifying crops farm field itself (i.e., polyculture) influences wild communities In Central Coast California, we investigate local fields, crossed with proportion natural habitat in surrounding landscape, jointly affect services strawberry. On 16 organic farms varying type (monoculture vs. land cover, find both factors abundance richness, although neither honey bee abundance. Further, cover has stronger effect richness monoculture (vs. farms. Although strawberry can self-pollinate, document experimentally exclusion doubles probability berry malformation, while excluding pollinators wind triples corresponding effects marketability. Finally, post-hoc tests, malformation significantly higher greater visitation by bees, observed trend this reduction was mitigated richness. These results suggest polyculture support more abundant diverse communities, ambient levels provide an important service improving marketability reducing malformation). further confirmation would be needed, our work suggests bees alone do not sufficient Prior shown tend visit top flower receptacle, other often crawl around base, leading complete achenes and, consequently, better formed berries. If visits reduced system, could explain unexpected correlation between malformation.