Data from: Habitat restoration promotes pollinator persistence and colonization in intensively managed agriculture

Widespread evidence of pollinator declines has led to policies supporting
habitat restoration including in agricultural landscapes. Yet, little is
yet known about the effectiveness of these restoration techniques for
promoting stable populations and communities of pollinators, especially in
intensively managed agricultural landscapes. Introducing floral resources,
such as flowering hedgerows, to enhance intensively cultivated
agricultural landscapes is known to increase the abundances of native
insect pollinators in and around restored areas. Whether this is a result
of local short-term concentration at flowers or indicative of true
increases in the persistence and species richness of these communities
remains unclear. It is also unknown whether this practice supports species
of conservation concern (e.g., those with more specialized dietary
requirements). Analyzing occupancies of native bees and syrphid flies from
330 surveys across 15 sites over eight years, we found that hedgerow
restoration promotes rates of between-season persistence and colonization
as compared with unrestored field edges. Enhanced persistence and
colonization, in turn, led to the formation of more species-rich
communities. We also find that hedgerows benefit floral resource
specialists more than generalists, emphasizing the value of this
restoration technique for conservation in agricultural landscapes.