A High Proportion of Natural Habitat Enhances the Pollination Services on Cucurbita pepo in an Agricultural Landscape

The presence of natural areas can significantly influence the provision of multiple ecosystem services to agricultural landscapes. Although its role within agricultural landscapes as habitat for wild pollinators is increasingly recognized, it remains unclear whether these pollinators spill over into orchards to supplement pollination services—a critical knowledge gap, particularly in the threatened Mediterranean ecosystem of South America. This study addresses the role of neighboring natural areas in providing pollination services to a sentinel plant, Cucurbita pepo, which is highly dependent on animal pollination, in an agricultural landscape of Mediterranean-type ecosystems in central Chile. We hypothesized that pollination services (measured as fruit set) and wild pollinator richness would increase with the proportion of natural areas in the surrounding landscape. The study was conducted in conventional apple orchards of the same variety. Orchards were grouped into three categories based on the proportion of natural habitat within a 1 km buffer. We found that fruit set increased with the proportion of surrounding natural areas, showing a two-fold increase in those orchards surrounded by > 71% of natural areas compared to those with < 35%. These findings suggest that natural areas within agricultural landscapes enhance pollination services. In conclusion, conserving natural habitats within agricultural landscapes can serve as an effective ecological intensification practice to enhance pollination services and improve orchard productivity.