Low solar grazing densities support beneficial insects in agrivoltaic systems
- 1Cornell University
- 2Agrivoltaic Solutions LLC
Abstract
Solar grazing—the co-location of livestock grazing and photovoltaic energy production—is rapidly expanding globally to mitigate land-use conflicts. Solar facilities are increasingly sited on agricultural land, where both sheep grazing and the promotion of agriculturally beneficial insects are recognized as facilitators of multi-functional agroecosystems, yet how stocking rate shapes beneficial insect communities remains poorly understood. We conducted a replicated, three-year experiment testing six stocking rates (0–10 sheep ha ⁻¹ ) at an operational 18 MW solar facility, sampling bees and lady beetles across three years and four grazing rotations per year. Light grazing at 2 sheep ha ⁻¹ supported 38% greater beneficial insect abundance than ungrazed controls, driven primarily by an 83% increase in honey bees. High stocking rates (⩾8 sheep ha ⁻¹ ) reduced bee abundance by 42%–68% and significantly changed insect community composition. A companion study identified 8 sheep ha ⁻¹ as the agrotechnological optimum, but our results identify 2 sheep ha ⁻¹ as the agroecological optimum in our study region, where beneficial insect abundance and flock health are maximized. These optima did not coincide, indicating a clear tradeoff between ecological and operational objectives. However, at 4 sheep ha ⁻¹ , beneficial insect communities remained statistically indistinguishable from ungrazed controls while vegetation management effectiveness was greater than at 2 sheep ha ⁻¹ . Together these results define a synergy–tradeoff boundary with direct implications for targeting agroecological outcomes via the operations and maintenance of solar grazing facilities.
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BibTeX
@article{zoller2026solar,
title = {{Low solar grazing densities support beneficial insects in agrivoltaic systems}},
author = {Leana Zoller and Nikola Kochendoerfer and Antonio DiTommaso and John Losey and Scott H McArt and Paige A Muñiz and Todd Ugine and Steven M Grodsky},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aeb145},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb145},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Low solar grazing densities support beneficial insects in agrivoltaic systems
AU - Leana Zoller
AU - Nikola Kochendoerfer
AU - Antonio DiTommaso
AU - John Losey
AU - Scott H McArt
AU - Paige A Muñiz
AU - Todd Ugine
AU - Steven M Grodsky
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Environmental Research Letters
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/aeb145
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb145
AB - Solar grazing—the co-location of livestock grazing and photovoltaic energy production—is rapidly expanding globally to mitigate land-use conflicts. Solar facilities are increasingly sited on agricultural land, where both sheep grazing and the promotion of agriculturally beneficial insects are recognized as facilitators of multi-functional agroecosystems, yet how stocking rate shapes beneficial insect communities remains poorly understood. We conducted a replicated, three-year experiment testing six stocking rates (0–10 sheep ha ⁻¹ ) at an operational 18 MW solar facility, sampling bees and lady beetles across three years and four grazing rotations per year. Light grazing at 2 sheep ha ⁻¹ supported 38% greater beneficial insect abundance than ungrazed controls, driven primarily by an 83% increase in honey bees. High stocking rates (⩾8 sheep ha ⁻¹ ) reduced bee abundance by 42%–68% and significantly changed insect community composition. A companion study identified 8 sheep ha ⁻¹ as the agrotechnological optimum, but our results identify 2 sheep ha ⁻¹ as the agroecological optimum in our study region, where beneficial insect abundance and flock health are maximized. These optima did not coincide, indicating a clear tradeoff between ecological and operational objectives. However, at 4 sheep ha ⁻¹ , beneficial insect communities remained statistically indistinguishable from ungrazed controls while vegetation management effectiveness was greater than at 2 sheep ha ⁻¹ . Together these results define a synergy–tradeoff boundary with direct implications for targeting agroecological outcomes via the operations and maintenance of solar grazing facilities.
SN - 1748-9326
ER -