METAGROLAND: Understanding metacommunity dynamics through plant-pollinator interactions in agroecosystems to improve the efficiency of agri-environmental schemes
What is this project about?
Across Europe’s farmlands, biodiversity is declining. But the crisis goes beyond the loss of individual species. It involves the breakdown of the relationships that connect them. In particular, the interactions between plants and their pollinators are weakening. These interactions are essential for healthy ecosystems and sustainable agriculture, since pollinators support plant reproduction and crop production.METAGROLAND, supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, investigates how we can restore these ecological relationships in agricultural landscapes. The project examines whether current agri-environmental schemes (AES) truly strengthen pollinator communities across entire landscapes.
METAGROLAND takes a novel social–ecological perspective to redesign biodiversity policies for farmland.
Why does it matter?
Agricultural landscapes cover vast areas of Europe and are central to food production. Yet biodiversity loss in farmland is accelerating, and research shows that species interactions are disappearing even faster than species themselves.This loss threatens key agroecosystem functions, including:
• Crop pollination
• Natural pest regulation
• Ecosystem resilience
Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are widely promoted to halt biodiversity decline. However, their effectiveness at large spatial scales remains unclear. For example:
• Do AES help pollinator populations grow sustainably?
• Or do they simply attract species locally while surrounding areas continue to decline?
• Which landscapes function as stable “hubs” that sustain ecological networks over time?
Answering these questions is essential for designing policies that support both biodiversity conservation and long-term food security.