The USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was initiated in 1985 as an incentive to voluntarily preserve environmentally sensitive lands in regions of intensive agriculture. Each CRP type (“practice”), based on a specific conservation target, prescribes habitat management guidelines such as the use of specific seed mixes to ensure proper plant community establishment, how seeds are planted, and the manner and frequency of vegetation management (mowing, burning, etc.). In 2008, the CRP was expanded to include guidelines for insect pollinator conservation. As of 2019, over 500,000 acres have been enrolled in this practice nationally and over 5,000 acres contracted in Indiana, but there has been little research investigating the benefits of CRP habitat on wild bee communities. Even less research exists on plant community establishment and diversity. We collected insects from May through October over two seasons (2020, 2021) across Indiana and compared pollinator diversity and abundance within and between CRP types (pollinator-specific and other wildlife practices) as well as with unmanaged habitats. We also cataloged flowering plant diversity once per month to correlate forb community diversity with pollinator diversity. There was considerable plant variation among pollinator habitats, despite all being established according to the same CRP guidelines, and seed mix did not accurately reflect observed in-field species frequencies. We also observed expected differences in pollinator diversity and abundance between pollinator-specific habitats and other habitat types, likely attributable to differences in the plant communities. Our study highlights the importance of land management uniformity and reproducibility in the establishment of conservation habitat.
