Linear features affect pollination success in experimental plant assemblages

Linear features, such as road verges and hedgerows can function as corridors for pollinators during foraging. Studies have shown that these features can enhance the foraging movement of pollinators such as bees, increasing the pollination success of bee pollinated plants. However, it remains unclear if these effects extend to communities of plants pollinated by other insect pollinators. We conducted a field experiment where we measured the pollination of phytometer plant assemblages linked by linear features. We constructed six 30 m artificial linear features in both urban and rural meadows in Southwest England, and placed plant assemblages at either end of these artificial features, comparing these to plant assemblages without links. Each plant assemblage had seven species known to attract different insect pollinators including bees, flies, and moths. We evaluated the self-incompatibility of plants and used seed set to measure pollination success. Artificial linear features significantly improved the pollination of three bee pollinated species, whereas fly and moth pollinated species were less affected. Despite these differences among pollinator groups, the presence of linear features increased overall seed set in assemblages. We suggest that linear features likely play an important role in maintaining pollination for certain plant species, depending on which insect groups are their key pollinators. This result highlights the importance of considering community-level impacts of corridors on pollination. Given the critical role of bees as pollinators, linear features can provide a practical means to evaluate the ecological functions of habitat corridors, but alternative approaches may be required for flies or moths.