Authors: Fijen, Thijs;

Biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes is often restricted by the surface of productive land. A promising way to circumvent this problem, is when crop cultivation in itself also benefits biodiversity. For example, mass-flowering crops temporally provide enormous amounts of food resources for insect pollinators, potentially boosting local biodiversity levels. However, placement of honeybee hives is frequently deemed necessary for high yields, potentially offsetting some of the biodiversity benefits of mass-flowering crop cultivation. In this case study, we have studied the contribution of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) cultivation to wild pollinators and vice versa, and whether the placement of honeybee hives influences wild pollinators. We found that the buckwheat pollinator community was diverse, albeit dominated by honeybees, and we found no clear indications of resource competition between honeybees and wild pollinators. Crop yield was largely dependent on crop pollinator density, notably of honeybees, and to a lesser extent crop biomass. Also when the honeybee hives were removed, relatively large densities of honeybees were found, suggesting that they lure honeybees away from natural areas. Our results indicate that buckwheat cultivation can contribute to fill an important nectar gap in the summer, which potentially increases wild pollinator populations on the long term.