Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42365521›Full record

ArticleEcological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America2026

Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe.

Chris Wyver, Andrijana Andrić, Carolin Biegerl, Sofia Blomqvist, Christophe Dominik, Noah Feldmann, William Fiordaliso, Mike Garratt, Andrea Holzschuh, Hanna Honchar and 18 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

28 authors.

Chris WyverSustainable Land Management Department, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8661-0859
Andrijana AndrićDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8239-7595
Carolin BiegerlDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9131-3287
Sofia BlomqvistDepartment of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8967-3564
Christophe DominikDepartment of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-1632
Noah FeldmannDepartment of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle (Saale), Germany.
William FiordalisoLaboratory of Interaction Ecology and Global Change, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9667-6800
Mike GarrattSustainable Land Management Department, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0196-6013
Andrea HolzschuhDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5235-4746
Hanna HoncharDepartment of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3429-5500
Reet KariseChair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6921-0167
Maja KneževićDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8587-9656
Hanno KortenDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7070-3158
Sarah LescotLaboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium.
Egle LiiskmannChair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6715-6518
John MacArthurSustainable Land Management Department, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Marika MändChair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4898-5817
Denis MichezLaboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-1838
Erik ÖckingerDepartment of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7517-4505
Oliver SchweigerDepartment of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8779-2335
Tea SkendžićDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1969-4359
Henrik G SmithDepartment of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2289-889X
Ingolf Steffan-DewenterDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1359-3944
Louise TrusloveSustainable Land Management Department, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Sanja VeselićDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7613-8052
Dušanka VujanovićDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1448-3977
Deepa SenapathiSustainable Land Management Department, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8883-1583
Simon G PottsSustainable Land Management Department, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2045-980X

Funding

European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program 101003476
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Roads are vital for human societies, yet they can also have negative impacts on the ecological communities that live in close proximity to them. Insect pollinators, which nest and forage in road verges running alongside roads, are a group of particular importance. These verges may act as an "ecological trap," drawing insect pollinators into contact with traffic, increasing the risk of pollinator-traffic collisions. Spanning six European regions, we evaluated the complex relationships between traffic, road verge floral composition, and surrounding land use to understand how these factors influence abundance and richness of bees, butterflies, and hoverflies sampled within road verges. Across the study, we observed 10,960 pollinators belonging to 293 species of bees, butterflies, and hoverflies. We observed greater pollinator abundance in verges with higher flower cover, and greater pollinator richness in verges with more species of flowering plants. Lower abundances of bees and butterflies and lower species richness of bees were observed when traffic speed in the adjacent road was higher. This study indicates that road verges with abundant and diverse floral resources support more abundant and diverse pollinator populations, especially on verges alongside lower speed roads. We recommend that lower speed roads should be prioritized for floral enhancements.

Indexed as

FlowersPollinationTransportationAnimalsBeesBiodiversityButterfliesEuropedisturbanceEuropefloral enhancementpollinatorsroad vergestraffic

Identifiers

PMID42365521
PMCPMC13310488

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.