Habitat islands can help bees amid intensive agriculture

Intensive agriculture isn’t necessarily bad for bees, researchers have found, as long as they have habitat islands with high plant biodiversity. In a study in Scientific Reports, biologists found bees’ quality of life was highest in gardens and biodiverse forests, but even small habitat islands with a high diversity of blooming plants can sustain bees. “It allows them to compensate the negative influence of both pesticides and monocultures,” says researcher Sara Leonhardt.

Read the study in Scientific Reports.