Pollinator decline in agricultural landscapes: Linking insect biodiversity to crop productivity

Pollinator decline threatens agricultural productivity and food security by disrupting the ecosystem service of crop pollination. We synthesize evidence on how insect biodiversity responds to agricultural intensification and quantify links between pollinator richness, visitation, and crop yield. Using a conceptual framework and simulated case study, we compare biodiversity–productivity relationships under alternative on-farm and landscape management. We show that moderate increases in pollinator richness ( species) can raise fruit set by – at typical visitation levels, with the strongest gains in intensively managed fields lacking semi-natural habitat. Our results align with global syntheses demonstrating that wild pollinators enhance crop set independent of honey bee abundance, and that landscape complexity buffers yield against pollinator losses. We outline practical interventions—habitat strips, floral resources, nesting substrates, and pesticide risk mitigation—that jointly support biodiversity and crop production.