Ensuring Biodiversity Maintenance and Food Security Through Sustainable Intensification: An Environment-Friendly Approach
摘要
Over the past few decades, intensifying agriculture and increasing anthropogenic interference have been responsible for the loss of natural habitats, resulting in fewer suitable refuges for wild insects. In the present scenario, the loss of ecosystem services has emerged as a major concern, as shown in numerous research studies. Pollination, being a major ecosystem service, has a direct influence on plant reproductive success, and its decline is known to adversely affect crop yields. The ever-growing human population and increasing food demand drive farmers to expand their cultivated areas by converting natural ecosystems into managed agroecosystems. Land-use changes, including intensification and monoculture practices, are gradually removing spaces where pollinator-friendly habitats, such as foraging and nesting sites, can be maintained. Consequently, pollinator decline and pollination limitation are becoming more common worldwide. However, to counteract these landscape changes, many countries have started implementing measures by restoring pollinator-friendly habitats in and around farmlands. The aim is to provide food and shelter to the wild pollinators throughout the year, so that they can survive in the landscape even in the absence of crop flowers. To promote this approach, two key concepts—land sparing and land sharing—are now being integrated with sustainable farming systems to restore and conserve ecosystem service provisioning while ensuring higher yield. In this context, individual species attributes and habitat- or landscape-level parameters work together to shape plant-pollinator interactions in agricultural landscapes. The following section offers a brief discussion about the status and influence of the pollinator-friendly habitats from the recent past.