Pesticides are one of the most important anthropogenic-related stressors. In times of global pollinator decline, the role of integrated farming and that of urban gardens in supporting wild pollinators is becoming increasingly important. The gardens could be hotspots of biodiversity and could give refuge for pollinators in urban areas. The indicators of these gardens’ real conservation value are the quality and the quantity of accessible flowers, and for example, the number of refuges which determine the abundance and diversity of pollinator communities.
In the last few years, home gardening became more fashionable and, at the same time, there is an increased demand for own-produced fruits and vegetables. However, this home growing does not always mean pesticide-free, and it does not help that a broad selection of synthetic pesticides is easily available for everyone in supermarkets. With the ease of access, home garden owners may be tempted to use pesticides more frequently than it is really needed. Insect-luring home gardens, often with rich flower sources, which yet are polluted with pesticides, can poison pollinators and other insects causing both lethal and sublethal effects.
We circulated online questionnaires to survey the plant protection practices among home garden owners. The main goal is to explore the pesticide pollution of home gardens. We aim to investigate what social and garden-quality factors best predict pesticide use in these gardens (for instance the size of the garden, planted flowers, and the goals of producing). Are there more home gardeners who use synthetic pesticides than those who only use organic ones? Further questions, what do home garden owners think about using pesticides, and to what extent do they think pesticide application is necessary? We are also interested in what home garden owners think about the threats to wild pollinators and how this affects their management practices and what factors predict whether or not gardeners provide support for wild pollinators. The information gained from these surveys then can help to find solutions towards a pesticide-free future.
463 people completed our questionnaire between 26 April and 20 August in 2021. We found that pesticides are widely used among even home garden owners who pay attention to making their garden pollinator-friendly. Our results highlight that pollinator-friendly gardens could become ecological traps for pollinators because pollinators are attracted to bee-friendly-like gardens, where general pesticide use can stress them in large numbers if gardeners use these chemicals.
Varga-Szilay, Z., & Pozsgai, G. (2022). Plant growers’ environmental consciousness may not be enough to mitigate pollinator declines: a questionnaire-based case study in Hungary. Pest Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.7277
Varga-Szilay, Z. (2021). Safe heavens or poisonous traps: pesticide use in bee-friendly gardens. Royal Entomological Societ (ENTO’21), online.
