4.1. Biodiversity benefits from the agri-environment schemes
Novel evidence from this study demonstrates that bumblebees
benefit from environmentally friendly management, a low-tier,
broad and shallow AES. The requirement to annually grow legumes
or mixtures of legumes and grasses on at least 15% of a farm’s arable
land is likely to be the most beneficial factor for bumblebees.
Other prescriptions such as limitation of glyphosate use, 2–5-m
wide permanent grassland strips and protection of landscape elements
may also boost bumblebees’ food supply but also provide
additional nesting sites. Our results corroborate previous studies
reporting rapid response of wild bees to abundant floral resources
but also the importance of landscape structure (Steffan-Dewenter
and Tscharntke, 2001; Alanen et al., 2011; Kuussaari et al., 2011).
There was also an indication that environmentally friendly management
could be particularly beneficial for long-tongued bumblebee
species, especially in Southern Estonia with its’ heterogeneous
landscapes. Since long-tongued bumblebees are generally represented
by more individuals in Southern areas, the species pool
from the surrounding environment is probably higher. More
long-tongued bumblebee individuals may therefore exploit the