By Juliet Turner, Farmland Ecology Research Assistant
In my first week as a pollinator ecologist for GWCT Farmland Ecology, a national heatwave hit, and I found myself roasting in the middle of an enormous wheat field, 30+ degrees of sun blazing down upon me. I had been out in the heat all day, and for several days before that, trekking up and down hills and across crop fields and pastures, surveying wildlife. I was really starting to feel the effects of the sun. Putting my notebook and backpack down, I crawled beneath a tall hawthorn hedge – the only source of shade available for a long distance. Further down inside the same hedge, a group of hares were also hiding from the sun. Sitting among the nettles and savouring the cool air, I understood viscerally just how important hedgerows are for our wildlife.
Some of the insects I was surveying, such as the bees and the butterflies, seemed to relish the heat, and were skipping happily from flower to flower. However, even the heat-loving species are reliant on hedgerows and wildflower strips for resources such as nectar, foliage to feed their larvae, or shelter to sleep and nest in. Across the UK, these small pockets of wildlife habitat are lifelines for countless species – and not just in a heatwave. Hedgerows and wildflower strips keep these vital pollinators connected to the landscapes they sustain.
Insect declines and conservation
Insects are the backbone of our ecosystems – pollinating crops, breaking down organic matter into soil, recycling nutrients, providing food for birds and bats, and regulating populations through predation and parasitism. Globally, over 75% of crop plants rely on insect pollination, yet insect numbers are plummeting. In the UK, flying insects have fallen by around 60% in just two decades. In the last 50 years, over 80% of butterflies have declined in abundance or distribution, with 2024 one of the worst years on record for both butterflies and bumblebees.
The UK is home to 59 species of butterfly – here are some I recorded on farms this season.
The stats on insect declines are shocking, but it’s not all bad news. Local conservation efforts are continually proven effective: the endangered heath fritillary butterfly has recovered in Essex, and in Kent the rare shrill carder bumblebee returned to restored marshland after ten years of absence. These successes show that while insect declines are stark, conservation works – and we desperately need it to if we want to tackle longer-term declines.
GWCT pollinator research
At the Farmland Ecology department of GWCT, we work with farmers and landowners to create landscapes that support both people and wildlife. Through the H3 project, we investigate how different farming approaches influence ecosystem and human health, with my focus being pollinator communities across the UK. By surveying insects on farms ranging from conventional to regenerative systems, we can measure the health of pollinator populations and gain insights into the wider state of farmland ecosystems.
Left: A collection of bees I photographed this summer. The UK has around 270 different species. Right: One of the highlights of my field season was this brown-banded carder (Bombus humilis) – a very rare bumblebee that I have never seen before.
We monitor pollinator populations through walking transects, floral surveys, measuring hawthorn pollination success rates, and pan trapping. Walking a transect involves identifying all insects along a set line at the edge of a field within standardised parameters that allow us to compare abundance and diversity across different sites.
Field identification can be tricky – many insects are not considerate enough to sit still while you examine them, and pollinating insects include a wide variety of species including bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles and ants. Surveyors must therefore be familiar enough with a wide range of insects to be able to recognise them from a half-second glance as they fly past!
One of my personal highlights from working with the pan trap samples was seeing this stunning 5mm long cuckoo wasp.
At least with the floral surveys, the flowers generally keep still. However, the UK is home to nearly 2,000 species of wildflowers, so there is still a lot to know. By recording how many plants are flowering on a site, we can get an idea of what resources are available for pollinating insects. Identifying the species is important because different insects have different plant preferences. By nurturing a variety of native flowering plants, we provide resources for a wider range of insects, and therefore also feed more birds, bats, reptiles and more.
To get an idea of how successful pollinators have been in providing pollination services, we study the development of specific clusters of hawthorn flowers. First, we visit during spring when hawthorn is in full bloom and we count the number of flowers on each cluster. We indicate which clusters we examined by tying them with numbered string, then return later in the summer when the flowers have turned into berries. The number of berries per clusters tells us the rate of pollination on that site.
Finally, to capture the pollinator diversity missed during walking transects, we set out brightly coloured pan traps that attract and catch flying insects in the area. These are especially good at sampling tiny species of flies and wasps, which are often impossible to identify in the field. Just as the ocean is full of plankton, the air holds its own community of minute flying creatures that we could never monitor without traps. We preserve and label each sample by location, and I later identify them under the microscope.
The impact of our research
Every record we make, every flower counted, and every insect identified is part of a much bigger puzzle. Together, our research shows how farmland can be managed so that crops, wildlife, and people all thrive side by side.
A core part of this mission is partnership – working with those who live and work on the land, drawing on their knowledge of its management, and sharing our expertise to help achieve conservation goals. Each farm makes a difference, and when neighbouring farms act together, their efforts connect habitats, reduce fragmentation, and create space for pollinators and other wildlife to flourish. This collaboration is key to building resilient, productive landscapes where farming and nature go hand in hand. In the end, protecting pollinators is not just about saving insects; it’s about safeguarding the web of life that sustains us all.