Farmland 'lures' insects from habitats

The idea that farmland provides pollinating insects with a "corridor" between their fragmented habitat has been challenged in a study by British researchers.A team of researchers from Oxford University and Earthwatch UK said the pollinators in their survey were "fickle foragers" and would concentrate on any area rich in pollen and nectar, including farmland, the BBC reported.The result challenged a long-held assumption that such areas rich in pollen resources would encourage the movement of pollinators from one group of their usual preferred native trees to another.This could put rare native plants that are pollinated by insects at risk, the researchers said, as farmland lures insects away and actually creates a barrier effect for non-specialist pollinators."Looked at from an insect's point of view, it makes sense," study co-author David Boshier said."These insects are not trying to pollinate a particular species of tree, they are just foraging. So if they leave a patch of native forest and fly across farmland which happens to be rich in resources, they are likely to collect pollen and nectar there rather than carry on to another patch of native forest."