CITIES could become vital refuges for insect pollinators under threat in the countryside from modern farming techniques, scientists have said.
Gardens and allotments in urban areas are a haven for species which help plants to flourish such as bees and butterflies .
Each year £600 million worth of crops in the UK have to be pollinated by flying insects, which are especially important to the fruit industry.
Their numbers have been falling due to the use of pesticides and a loss of habitat, but researchers say that towns and cities could be bug bastions which could eventually help pollinator populations recover.
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Butterflies are helpful pollinators
A four-year study of insects in urban green spaces found that bees, flies and other pollinators are drawn to spaces such as parks and roadside verges that are planted with species that they prefer to visit - such as dandelions, thistles, and brambles.
It also identified ways in which gardeners can encourage insects to visit their gardens, helping fertilise plants and flowers.
Mowing grass less frequently to give them space allowing flowers to flourish, could also enable insects to thrive, as could planting certain plants such as pulmonaria, bugloss, borridge and marigolds.
Professor Graham Stone, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who took part in the study, said: "Pollinating insects are vital to supporting plant life, and urban spaces can play a key role in providing environments where, with help from their favourite plants, these creatures can flourish.
READ MORE: How insects benefit gardens
"Gardens can account for up to one-third of the area of towns and cities. The more flowers we plant at home, the better it is for bees, butterflies and other insects."
He added: "As well as the crops which have to be pollinated, there's around £50-60m worth of urban production - in allotments and gardens - which rely on insects each year.
"While it may seem counter-intuitive, if we manage our cities in the right way they can become great habitats for pollinators. And these insects will migrate to the countryside."
Dandelions attract insects
Prof Stone recommended planting daisy-style flowers which provide good food for insects, and also leaving a patch of a garden 'rough' to provide a habitat and also allow a few weeds - which many bugs prefer - to propagate.
"While garden flowers are popular with horticulturalists, to an insect the flowers they choose are a bit like picking a restaurant on the basis of the colour of the shop front, and not the food on offer.
"Many weeds, such as the rugged Scottish thistle, are more food rich and we'd encourage gardeners to consider having a few 'good weeds'", he said.
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Of the different city habitats explored in the study, urban allotments and household gardens emerged as the best for pollinating insects and the study urged city planners to consider increasing the amounts of these types of green spaces.
Results from the study, carried out by the Universities of Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading in collaboration with the University of Cardiff, are published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
The project is the first to examine pollinating insects across entire cities.
A flowering garden can help buglife
The UK Insect Pollinators Initiative is funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Scottish Government and Wellcome.
Jane Memmott, Professor of Ecology at the University of Bristol and who leads the Urban Pollinators Project, added: “This is the first time a new measure of management success that considers the long-term sustainability of pollinator communities, and not just individual species, has been used in a practical conservation context.
“Rather than simply asking about how management affects the number of pollinator species or their abundance, we also ask how potential strategies affect the ability of pollinators to cope with species losses associated with environmental change. A good management intervention leads to more sustainable communities.”
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