Enhancement of pollination networks in restored quarries

The aim of our project is studying the connectivity of pollinators between restored quarries and surrounding areas, as well as different scenarios that may facilitate or enhance the presence of pollinators in restored areas. Specifically, we are going to work with Apoidea (bees and bumblebees mainly) because of their vital role in ecosystems, and the situation of vulnerability in which they are. In addition, thanks to the fact that they can carry out the pollination process, they will be of great importance for the development of local agriculture.

We will create vegetation islands, that allow connectivity and the development of bee populations inside the quarry.

The importance of the project, therefore, would be the possibility of favoring the pollination process and its implications in local agriculture; and the creation of “conservation areas” for these animal groups, facing problems such as pesticides, global change in an area where the impacts against them will be much lower.

If it works, it would be a real, cheap and feasible possibility of increasing ecosystem services in degraded areas. Although FAO recognizes the effectiveness of habitat creation practices to increase bee populations, these actions have never been verified in extractive environments at our latitudes, and this is the scientific and applied importance of the project.