Dryland wheat farming commonly uses a rotation of wheat to fallow between years but growers have begun to diversify crop rotations for a variety of environmental and economic reasons. Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A.) and camelina (Camelina sativa L.), two oil seed crops, can be successfully grown in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) and could be a suitable fallow replacement. Native bees have declined in abundance and richness primarily due to conversion of natural habitat to row crops and honey bees have become increasingly difficult to manage in recent years. Thus, it is important to determine how flower visiting insects utilize novel crops. We collected flower visiting insects via weekly sweep netting events during two growing seasons to determine abundance and richness of bees and other insect pollinators on B. carinata, C. sativa, and a ten species cover crop. Overall, numerous native bees and other flower visiting insects were collected off all three potential fallow replacements. These crops may provide important floral resources for bees and other pollinators and could be used to improve pollinator resources within cropping systems of the NGP.
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26 March 2024
Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects Within Two Brassicaceous Oilseeds and a Cover Crop Mix Under Evaluation as Fallow Surrogates for Dryland Production Systems of the Northern Great Plains
Joshua W. Campbell,
Tatyana A. Rand,
Natalie M. West,
Alexandra Morphew,
Brett L. Allen,
Jay D. Jabro,
Sadikshya R. Dangi
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Crabronidae
flower-visiting wasps
Montana
Syrphidae
wild bees