Flower plantings increase wild bee abundance and the pollination services provided to a pollination‐dependent crop

Summary Pollination services from wild insects contribute to crop productivity around the world, but are at risk of decline in agricultural landscapes. Using highbush blueberry as a model system, we tested whether wildflower plantings established adjacent to crop fields would increase the abundance of wild pollinators during crop bloom and enhance pollination and yield. Plantings were seeded in 2009 with a mix of 15 perennial wildflower species that provided season‐long bloom and increased plant density and floral area during the subsequent 3 years. Honeybees visiting blueberry flowers had similar abundance in enhanced and control fields in all 4 years of this study, whereas wild bee and syrphid abundance…