Presseinformation: Protecting wild bees in Europe

Nr. 161 - 10.11.2026

International research team highlights effective landscape management in calcareous grasslands

Calcareous grasslands are wildflower-rich ecosystems that develop on shallow, alkaline, nutrient-poor soils over chalk or limestone bedrock. They are rare and important habitats for wild bees and other pollinators – yet how well they can support these valuable communities depends on how they are managed. An international research team, led by the University of Göttingen, has shown that long-term abandonment or intensive management threatens the diversity of wild bees. Extensive management of these areas, together with appropriate nature conservation measures in the surrounding landscape, is crucial. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

The researchers studied 96 calcareous grassland areas across Estonia, Germany and Spain over a two-year period. They recorded a total of 6,716 wild bees and classified these into 235 species. This data confirmed how important these habitats are for the conservation of wild bees. The scientists found the greatest species diversity in areas with low to moderate land-use intensity, partly due to positive effects on plant diversity. In addition, the surrounding landscape also played a key role: in two out of three regions, wild bees benefited in particular when there were other calcareous grasslands near to the one where they lived. The team also paid particular attention to “agri-environmental measures”, which are voluntary programmes under the EU Common Agricultural Policy that pay farmers to adopt biodiversity-friendly practices. The researchers investigated the influence of such measures in the landscape on the wild bees of the calcareous grasslands. They found that their effectiveness depended on the type of measure, the surrounding landscape and regional conditions. In Germany, for example, agri-environmental measures that are directly integrated into agricultural production only had a positive effect on wild bees if there was also a high proportion of calcareous grasslands in the landscape.

“As traditional management of calcareous grasslands is often no longer economically viable, their use is currently being abandoned in many regions of Europe,” says lead author Ira Hannappel at Göttingen University’s Agroecology and Functional Agrobiodiversity research group. “To prevent these areas from being overgrown with scrub, low to moderately intensive management of calcareous grasslands should be specifically encouraged.” The scientists emphasise that the long-term conservation of wild bee diversity on calcareous grasslands requires a combination of local and regional measures. In this regard, the protection and restoration of calcareous grasslands is crucial and may be complemented by the implementation of agri-environmental measures in the landscape. However, the study also shows that a one-size-fits-all approach often fails to meet the diverse requirements. Nature conservation measures must be individually adapted to local conditions and regions.

Original Publication: Hannappel, I. et al. “Local management at low- to moderate-intensity benefits wild bees in European calcareous grasslands while landscape conservation effects vary.” Journal of Applied Ecology (2026). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.70580

Contact:

Ira Hannappel

University of Göttingen

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences – Department of Agroecology and Functional Agrobiodiversity

37077 Göttingen, Germany

Email: ira.hannappel@uni-goettingen.de

www.uni-goettingen.de/en/659155.html

Dr Annika Haß

University of Göttingen

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences – Department of Agroecology and Functional Agrobiodiversity

37077 Göttingen, Germany

Email: ahass@uni-goettingen.de

Tel: +490551 39 28268