Data from: Small-scale restoration in intensive agricultural landscapes supports more specialized and less mobile pollinator species

1. Agriculture now constitutes 40–50% of terrestrial land use globally. By
enhancing habitat suitability and connectivity, restoration within
agricultural landscapes could have a major influence on biodiversity
conservation. However, habitat management within intensive agricultural
landscapes may primarily boost abundances of common, highly mobile
generalists, rather than vulnerable or endangered species. We studied
pollinator community response to small-scale habitat restoration in the
intensively farmed Central Valley of California to determine whether
restoration could also promote more specialized, less common, and/or less
mobile species. 2. Composition of pollinator communities was assessed in
five experimental and 10 control (unrestored) sites before and after
restoration of native plant hedgerows over an 8-year period, using a
before-after-control-impact design. 3. We characterized bee and fly
species based on functional response traits [floral specialization,
habitat specialization, abundance, body size, and sociality (bees only)]
known to influence the response to habitat change. 4. We modelled how
species occurrences changed with habitat restoration over time as
modulated by their response traits. 5. We found that hedgerows not only
significantly enhanced occurrences of native bee and syrphid fly species,
but that as hedgerows matured, they had a greater positive effect on
species that were more specialized in floral and nesting resources and
smaller (less mobile). 6. Synthesis and applications. Unlike previous
studies that suggest habitat restoration in agricultural landscapes only
benefits mobile, generalist species, our results suggest that small-scale
habitat restoration can promote species whose traits likely render them
particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation. Thus, even within highly
intensive agricultural landscapes, small-scale habitat restoration can be
a conservation management tool. However, tailoring habitat enhancements to
promote certain species or guilds may be critical for their success as a
conservation intervention in agricultural landscapes.