Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe

Wyver, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8661-0859, Andric, A., Biegerl, C., Blomqvist, S., Dominik, C., Noah, F., Fiordaliso, W., Garratt, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0196-6013, Holzschuh, A., Honchar, H., Karise, R., Knezevic, M., Korten, H., Lescot, S., Liiskmann, E., Macarthur, J., Mand, M., Michez, D., Ockinger, E., Schweiger, O., Skendzic, T., Smith, H. G., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Truslove, L., Veselic, S., Vujanovic, D., Senapathi, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8883-1583 and Potts, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2045-980X (2026) Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe. Ecological Applications, 36 (4). e70279. ISSN 0051-0761 doi: 10.1002/eap.70279

Abstract/Summary

Roads are vital for human societies, yet they can also have negative impacts on the ecological communities that live in close proximity to them. Insect pollinators, which nest and forage in road verges running alongside roads, are a group of particular importance. These verges may act as an “ecological trap,” drawing insect pollinators into contact with traffic, increasing the risk of pollinator-traffic collisions. Spanning six European regions, we evaluated the complex relationships between traffic, road verge floral composition, and surrounding land use to understand how these factors influence abundance and richness of bees, butterflies, and hoverflies sampled within road verges. Across the study,we observed 10,960 pollinators belonging to 293 species of bees, butterflies,and hoverflies. We observed greater pollinator abundance in verges with higher flower cover, and greater pollinator richness in verges with more species of flowering plants. Lower abundances of bees and butterflies and lower species richness of bees were observed when traffic speed in the adjacent road was higher. This study indicates that road verges with abundant and diverse floral resources support more abundant and diverse pollinator populations,especially on verges alongside lower speed roads. We recommend that lower speed roads should be prioritized for floral enhancements.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/130874
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/eap.70279
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Sustainable Land Management > Centre for Agri-environmental Research (CAER)
Publisher	Ecological Society of America
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