The interplay of pollinator diversity, pollination services and landscape change.
Abstract
Pollinators are a functional group with high relevance for ensuring cross-pollination in wild plant populations and yields in major crops. Both pollinator declines and losses of pollination services have been identified in the context of habitat destruction and land use intensification. This editorial synthesizes and links the findings presented in seven papers in this Special Profile, focusing on pollinator diversity and plant-pollinator interactions in natural habitats and agricultural landscapes. The results contribute to our understanding of local and landscape scale effects of land use intensification on pollinator densities and diversity, and pollination functions in wild plant communities and crops. Synthesis and applications. We emphasize the exceptional coverage in pollination ecology ranging from basic ecological relationships to applied aspects of ecosystem services and ecosystem management, and conclude with identifying gaps in current knowledge and challenging research areas for the future.