Wild bee paradise Austria?

Wild bees are essential for pollination of crops and wild plants. In Austria there are about 690 wild bees species. Habitat loss and intensification of agricultural land use are the main causes of their vulnerability. Extensive use and the renunciation of fertilisation and herbicides promote the flower plant density and thus the food supply. The extensification of originally intensively used areas has a positive effect on the diversity of wild bees. Ideal habitats for wild bees are characterised by flower and small structures, such as extensively used meadows or wild herbal-rich arable margins. As the pollination performance for cultivated areas decreases with increasing distance to extensively used meadows, a small-scale landscape mosaic has a positive effect on an extensive pollination performance.