1
|
Strang CG, Rondeau S, Baert N, McArt SH, Raine NE, Muth F. Field agrochemical exposure impacts locomotor activity in wild bumblebees. Ecology 2024; 105:e4310. [PMID: 38828716 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Agricultural intensification has been identified as one of the key causes of global insect biodiversity losses. These losses have been further linked to the widespread use of agrochemicals associated with modern agricultural practices. Many of these chemicals are known to have negative sublethal effects on commercial pollinators, such as managed honeybees and bumblebees, but less is known about the impacts on wild bees. Laboratory-based studies with commercial pollinators have consistently shown that pesticide exposure can impact bee behavior, with cascading effects on foraging performance, reproductive success, and pollination services. However, these studies typically assess only one chemical, neglecting the complexity of real-world exposure to multiple agrochemicals and other stressors. In the summer of 2020, we collected wild-foraging workers of the common eastern bumblebee, Bombus impatiens, from five squash (Cucurbita) agricultural sites (organic and conventional farms), selected to represent a range of agrochemical, including neonicotinoid insecticide, use. For each bee, we measured two behaviors relevant to foraging success and previously shown to be impacted by pesticide exposure: sucrose responsiveness and locomotor activity. Following behavioral testing, we used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) chemical analysis to detect and quantify the presence of 92 agrochemicals in each bumblebee. Bees collected from our sites did not vary in pesticide exposure as expected. While we found a limited occurrence of neonicotinoids, two fungicides (azoxystrobin and difenoconazole) were detected at all sites, and the pesticide synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO) was present in all 123 bees. We found that bumblebees that contained higher levels of PBO were less active, and this effect was stronger for larger bumblebee workers. While PBO is unlikely to be the direct cause of the reduction in bee activity, it could be an indicator of exposure to pyrethroids and/or other insecticides that we were unable to directly quantify, but which PBO is frequently tank-mixed with during pesticide applications on crops. We did not find a relationship between agrochemical exposure and bumblebee sucrose responsiveness. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of a sublethal behavioral impact of agrochemical exposure on wild-foraging bees.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Caroline G Strang
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Sabrina Rondeau
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nicolas Baert
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Scott H McArt
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Nigel E Raine
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Felicity Muth
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Spiesman BJ, Gratton C, Gratton E, Hines H. Deep learning for identifying bee species from images of wings and pinned specimens. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0303383. [PMID: 38805521 PMCID: PMC11132477 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
One of the most challenging aspects of bee ecology and conservation is species-level identification, which is costly, time consuming, and requires taxonomic expertise. Recent advances in the application of deep learning and computer vision have shown promise for identifying large bumble bee (Bombus) species. However, most bees, such as sweat bees in the genus Lasioglossum, are much smaller and can be difficult, even for trained taxonomists, to identify. For this reason, the great majority of bees are poorly represented in the crowdsourced image datasets often used to train computer vision models. But even larger bees, such as bumble bees from the B. vagans complex, can be difficult to separate morphologically. Using images of specimens from our research collections, we assessed how deep learning classification models perform on these more challenging taxa, qualitatively comparing models trained on images of whole pinned specimens or on images of bee forewings. The pinned specimen and wing image datasets represent 20 and 18 species from 6 and 4 genera, respectively, and were used to train the EfficientNetV2L convolutional neural network. Mean test precision was 94.9% and 98.1% for pinned and wing images respectively. Results show that computer vision holds great promise for classifying smaller, more difficult to identify bees that are poorly represented in crowdsourced datasets. Images from research and museum collections will be valuable for expanding classification models to include additional species, which will be essential for large scale conservation monitoring efforts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Brian J. Spiesman
- Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Claudio Gratton
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Elena Gratton
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Heather Hines
- Department of Entomology, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ye ZM, He YD, Bergamo PJ, Orr MC, Huang W, Jin XF, Lun HN, Wang QF, Yang CF. Floral resource partitioning of coexisting bumble bees: Distinguishing species-, colony-, and individual-level effects. Ecology 2024; 105:e4284. [PMID: 38494344 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Resource partitioning is considered a key factor in alleviating competitive interactions, enabling coexistence among consumer species. However, most studies have focused on resource partitioning between species, ignoring the potentially critical role of intraspecific variation in resource use. We investigated floral resource partitioning across species, colonies, and individuals in a species-rich bumblebee community in the diversification center of bumblebees. We used a total of 10,598 bumblebees belonging to 13 species across 5 years in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China. First, we evaluated the influence of a comprehensive set of floral traits, including both those related to attractiveness (flower color and shape) and rewards (pollen, sugar ratio, nectar volume, sugar concentration, and amino acid content) on resource partitioning at the species level in bumblebee-plant networks. Then, we explored intraspecific resource partitioning on the colony and individual levels. Our results suggest that bumblebee species differ substantially in their use of the available floral resources, and that this mainly depends on flower attractiveness (floral color and shape). Interestingly, we also detected floral resource partitioning at the colony level within all commonest bumblebee species evaluated. In general, floral resource partitioning between bumblebee individuals decreased with species- and individual-level variation in body size (intertegular span). These results suggest that bumblebee species may coexist via the flexibility in their preferences for specific floral traits, which filters up to support the co-occurrence of high numbers of species and individuals in this global hotspot of species richness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhong-Ming Ye
- CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Yong-Deng He
- CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Pedro J Bergamo
- Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Michael C Orr
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Entomologie, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Wen Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiao-Fang Jin
- College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Han-Ning Lun
- CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Qing-Feng Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Chun-Feng Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ghisbain G, Thiery W, Massonnet F, Erazo D, Rasmont P, Michez D, Dellicour S. Projected decline in European bumblebee populations in the twenty-first century. Nature 2024; 628:337-341. [PMID: 37704726 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06471-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
Habitat degradation and climate change are globally acting as pivotal drivers of wildlife collapse, with mounting evidence that this erosion of biodiversity will accelerate in the following decades1-3. Here, we quantify the past, present and future ecological suitability of Europe for bumblebees, a threatened group of pollinators ranked among the highest contributors to crop production value in the northern hemisphere4-8. We demonstrate coherent declines of bumblebee populations since 1900 over most of Europe and identify future large-scale range contractions and species extirpations under all future climate and land use change scenarios. Around 38-76% of studied European bumblebee species currently classified as 'Least Concern' are projected to undergo losses of at least 30% of ecologically suitable territory by 2061-2080 compared to 2000-2014. All scenarios highlight that parts of Scandinavia will become potential refugia for European bumblebees; it is however uncertain whether these areas will remain clear of additional anthropogenic stressors not accounted for in present models. Our results underline the critical role of global change mitigation policies as effective levers to protect bumblebees from manmade transformation of the biosphere.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Ghisbain
- Spatial Epidemiology Lab (SpELL), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium.
| | - Wim Thiery
- Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - François Massonnet
- Earth and Climate Research Center, Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Diana Erazo
- Spatial Epidemiology Lab (SpELL), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Pierre Rasmont
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium
| | - Denis Michez
- Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium
| | - Simon Dellicour
- Spatial Epidemiology Lab (SpELL), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
- Laboratory of Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Colgan AM, Hatfield RG, Dolan A, Velman W, Newton RE, Graves TA. Quantifying effectiveness and best practices for bumblebee identification from photographs. Sci Rep 2024; 14:830. [PMID: 38200017 PMCID: PMC10782012 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41548-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding pollinator networks requires species level data on pollinators. New photographic approaches to identification provide avenues to data collection that reduce impacts on declining bumblebee species, but limited research has addressed their accuracy. Using blind identification of 1418 photographed bees, of which 561 had paired specimens, we assessed identification and agreement across 20 bumblebee species netted in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota by people with minimal training. An expert identified 92.4% of bees from photographs, whereas 98.2% of bees were identified from specimens. Photograph identifiability decreased for bees that were wet or matted; bees without clear pictures of the abdomen, side of thorax, or top of thorax; bees photographed with a tablet, and for species with more color morphs. Across paired specimens, the identification matched for 95.1% of bees. When combined with a second opinion of specimens without matching identifications, data suggested a similar misidentification rate (2.7% for photographs and 2.5% specimens). We suggest approaches to maximize accuracy, including development of rulesets for collection of a subset of specimens based on difficulty of identification and to address cryptic variation, and focused training on identification that highlights detection of species of concern and species frequently confused in a study area.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A M Colgan
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, 38 Mather Drive, West Glacier, MT 59936, USA
| | - R G Hatfield
- Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, 628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97221, USA
| | | | - W Velman
- Bureau of Land Management, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101, USA
| | - R E Newton
- Bureau of Land Management, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101, USA
| | - T A Graves
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, 38 Mather Drive, West Glacier, MT 59936, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Cantwell-Jones A, Tylianakis JM, Larson K, Gill RJ. Using individual-based trait frequency distributions to forecast plant-pollinator network responses to environmental change. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14368. [PMID: 38247047 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Determining how and why organisms interact is fundamental to understanding ecosystem responses to future environmental change. To assess the impact on plant-pollinator interactions, recent studies have examined how the effects of environmental change on individual interactions accumulate to generate species-level responses. Here, we review recent developments in using plant-pollinator networks of interacting individuals along with their functional traits, where individuals are nested within species nodes. We highlight how these individual-level, trait-based networks connect intraspecific trait variation (as frequency distributions of multiple traits) with dynamic responses within plant-pollinator communities. This approach can better explain interaction plasticity, and changes to interaction probabilities and network structure over spatiotemporal or other environmental gradients. We argue that only through appreciating such trait-based interaction plasticity can we accurately forecast the potential vulnerability of interactions to future environmental change. We follow this with general guidance on how future studies can collect and analyse high-resolution interaction and trait data, with the hope of improving predictions of future plant-pollinator network responses for targeted and effective conservation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aoife Cantwell-Jones
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Jason M Tylianakis
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, School of Biological Sciences, Private Bag 4800, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Keith Larson
- Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Richard J Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Straw EA, Stanley DA. Weak evidence base for bee protective pesticide mitigation measures. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 2023; 116:1604-1612. [PMID: 37458300 PMCID: PMC10564266 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toad118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
Pesticides help produce food for humanity's growing population, yet they have negative impacts on the environment. Limiting these impacts, while maintaining food supply, is a crucial challenge for modern agriculture. Mitigation measures are actions taken by pesticide users, which modify the risk of the application to nontarget organisms, such as bees. Through these, the impacts of pesticides can be reduced, with minimal impacts on the efficacy of the pesticide. Here we collate the scientific evidence behind mitigation measures designed to reduce pesticide impacts on bees using a systematic review methodology. We included all publications which tested the effects of any pesticide mitigation measure (using a very loose definition) on bees, at any scale (from individual through to population level), so long as they presented evidence on the efficacy of the measure. We found 34 publications with direct evidence on the topic, covering a range of available mitigation measures. No currently used mitigation measures were thoroughly tested, and some entirely lacked empirical support, showing a weak evidence base for current recommendations and policy. We found mitigation measure research predominantly focuses on managed bees, potentially failing to protect wild bees. We also found that label-recommended mitigation measures, which are the mitigation measures most often applied, specifically are seldom tested empirically. Ultimately, we recommend that more, and stronger, scientific evidence is required to justify existing mitigation measures to help reduce the impacts of pesticides on bees while maintaining crop protection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edward A Straw
- School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Dara A Stanley
- School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hemberger J, Bernauer OM, Gaines-Day HR, Gratton C. Landscape-scale floral resource discontinuity decreases bumble bee occurrence and alters community composition. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2907. [PMID: 37602909 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural practices and intensification during the past two centuries have dramatically altered the abundance and temporal continuity of floral resources that support pollinating insects such as bumble bees. Long-term trends among bumble bees within agricultural regions suggest that intensive agricultural conditions have created inhospitable conditions for some species, while other species have maintained their relative abundances despite landscape-level changes in flower availability. Bumble bee responses to spatiotemporal resource heterogeneity have been explored at the colony and behavioral level, but we have yet to understand whether these conditions drive community structure and ultimately explain the diverging patterns in long-term species trends. To explore the relationship between landscape-level floral resource continuity and the likelihood of bumble bee occurrence, we mapped the relative spatial and temporal availability of floral resources within an intensive agricultural region in the US Upper Midwest and related this resource availability with bumble bee species relative abundance. Across the bee community, we found that relative bumble bee occurrence increases in landscapes containing more abundant and more temporally continuous floral resources. Declining species, such as Bombus terricola, exhibited the strongest, positive responses to resource abundance and continuity whereas common, stable species, such as Bombus impatiens, showed no statistical relationship to either. Together with existing experimental evidence, this work suggests that efforts to increase spatiotemporal flower availability, along with overall flower abundance at landscape scales may have positive effects on bumble bee communities in the US Upper Midwest.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Hemberger
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Olivia M Bernauer
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Hannah R Gaines-Day
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Claudio Gratton
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Straw EA, Cini E, Gold H, Linguadoca A, Mayne C, Rockx J, Brown MJF, Garratt MPD, Potts SG, Senapathi D. Neither sulfoxaflor, Crithidia bombi, nor their combination impact bumble bee colony development or field bean pollination. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16462. [PMID: 37777537 PMCID: PMC10542809 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43215-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Many pollinators, including bumble bees, are in decline. Such declines are known to be driven by a number of interacting factors. Decreases in bee populations may also negatively impact the key ecosystem service, pollination, that they provide. Pesticides and parasites are often cited as two of the drivers of bee declines, particularly as they have previously been found to interact with one another to the detriment of bee health. Here we test the effects of an insecticide, sulfoxaflor, and a highly prevalent bumble bee parasite, Crithidia bombi, on the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. After exposing colonies to realistic doses of either sulfoxaflor and/or Crithidia bombi in a fully crossed experiment, colonies were allowed to forage on field beans in outdoor exclusion cages. Foraging performance was monitored, and the impacts on fruit set were recorded. We found no effect of either stressor, or their interaction, on the pollination services they provide to field beans, either at an individual level or a whole colony level. Further, there was no impact of any treatment, in any metric, on colony development. Our results contrast with prior findings that similar insecticides (neonicotinoids) impact pollination services, and that sulfoxaflor impacts colony development, potentially suggesting that sulfoxaflor is a less harmful compound to bee health than neonicotinoids insecticides.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edward A Straw
- Department of Botany, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, D02 PN40, Ireland
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Elena Cini
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK.
| | - Harriet Gold
- The School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AB, UK
| | - Alberto Linguadoca
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
- Pesticides Peer Review Unit, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Via Carlo Magno 1A, 43126, Parma, Italy
| | - Chloe Mayne
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AS, UK
| | - Joris Rockx
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Mark J F Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour, School of Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Michael P D Garratt
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Simon G Potts
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Deepa Senapathi
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Quinlan GM, Feuerborn C, Hines HM, Grozinger CM. Beat the heat: thermal respites and access to food associated with increased bumble bee heat tolerance. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:jeb245924. [PMID: 37578032 PMCID: PMC10508702 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Climate change poses a threat to organisms across the world, with cold-adapted species such as bumble bees (Bombus spp.) at particularly high risk. Understanding how organisms respond to extreme heat events associated with climate change as well as the factors that increase resilience or prime organisms for future stress can inform conservation actions. We investigated the effects of heat stress within different contexts (duration, periodicity, with and without access to food, and in the laboratory versus field) on bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) survival and heat tolerance. We found that both prolonged (5 h) heat stress and nutrition limitation were negatively correlated with worker bee survival and thermal tolerance. However, the effects of these acute stressors were not long lasting (no difference in thermal tolerance among treatment groups after 24 h). Additionally, intermittent heat stress, which more closely simulates the forager behavior of leaving and returning to the nest, was not negatively correlated with worker thermal tolerance. Thus, short respites may allow foragers to recover from thermal stress. Moreover, these results suggest there is no priming effect resulting from short- or long-duration exposure to heat - bees remained equally sensitive to heat in subsequent exposures. In field-caught bumble bees, foragers collected during warmer versus cooler conditions exhibited similar thermal tolerance after being allowed to recover in the lab for 16 h. These studies offer insight into the impacts of a key bumble bee stressor and highlight the importance of recovery duration, stressor periodicity and context on bumble bee thermal tolerance outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela M. Quinlan
- Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
| | - Cody Feuerborn
- Department of Biology, Center for Pollinator Research, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Heather M. Hines
- Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
- Department of Biology, Center for Pollinator Research, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Christina M. Grozinger
- Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Easton-Calabria AC, Thuma JA, Cronin K, Melone G, Laskowski M, Smith MAY, Pasadyn CL, de Bivort BL, Crall JD. Colony size buffers interactions between neonicotinoid exposure and cold stress in bumblebees. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230555. [PMID: 37464757 PMCID: PMC10354472 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Social bees are critical for supporting biodiversity, ecosystem function and crop yields globally. Colony size is a key ecological trait predicted to drive sensitivity to environmental stressors and may be especially important for species with annual cycles of sociality, such as bumblebees. However, there is limited empirical evidence assessing the effect of colony size on sensitivity to environmental stressors or the mechanisms underlying these effects. Here, we examine the relationship between colony size and sensitivity to environmental stressors in bumblebees. We exposed colonies at different developmental stages briefly (2 days) to a common neonicotinoid (imidacloprid) and cold stress, while quantifying behaviour of individuals. Combined imidacloprid and cold exposure had stronger effects on both thermoregulatory behaviour and long-term colony growth in small colonies. We find that imidacloprid's effects on behaviour are mediated by body temperature and spatial location within the nest, suggesting that social thermoregulation provides a buffering effect in large colonies. Finally, we demonstrate qualitatively similar effects in size-manipulated microcolonies, suggesting that group size per se, rather than colony age, drives these patterns. Our results provide evidence that colony size is critical in driving sensitivity to stressors and may help elucidate mechanisms underlying the complex and context-specific impacts of pesticide exposure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- August C. Easton-Calabria
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Jessie A. Thuma
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155-5801, USA
| | - Kayleigh Cronin
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Gigi Melone
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Madalyn Laskowski
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Matthew A. Y. Smith
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Cassandra L. Pasadyn
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Benjamin L. de Bivort
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - James D. Crall
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Prado IS, da Rocha AA, Silva LA, Gonzalez VC. Glyphosate-based formulation affects Tetragonisca angustula worker's locomotion, behavior and biology. ECOTOXICOLOGY (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2023; 32:513-524. [PMID: 37119428 DOI: 10.1007/s10646-023-02658-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Declining bee populations diminish pollination services, damaging plant and agricultural biodiversity. One of the causes of this decline is the use of pesticides. Pesticides with glyphosate as the main active ingredient are among the most used pesticides worldwide, being the most used in Brazil. This study determined the 24 and 48 h LD50 (median lethal dose) of the herbicide's glyphosate-based formulation by ingestion, identified sublethal doses, and investigated its effects on the locomotion and behavior of Tetragonisca angustula workers. The LD50 found indicates that a glyphosate-based formulation is highly toxic to T. angustula. The doses applied, including concentrations found in nature, caused death, motor changes (decreased speed and tremors), excessive self-cleaning, and disorientation (return to light and stop). Although we did not test for pollination effects, we can infer from our results that this formulation can negatively affect the pollination activity of T. angustula. Evaluation of the toxicity and sublethal effects of pesticides on bees contributes to a better understanding of their harmful effects on hives and allows for the development of strategies to reduce these impacts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Isabela Sousa Prado
- Zoology Laboratory of the Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Vitória da Conquista, Brazil
| | - Agda Alves da Rocha
- Zoology Laboratory of the Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Vitória da Conquista, Brazil
| | - Lais Alves Silva
- Graduate Program in Geosciences, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Vinícius Cunha Gonzalez
- Biochemistry and Biophysics Laboratory of the Instituto Multidisciplinar em Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Vitória da Conquista, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Askri D, Straw EA, Arafah K, Voisin SN, Bocquet M, Brown MJF, Bulet P. Parasite and Pesticide Impacts on the Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) Haemolymph Proteome. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065384. [PMID: 36982462 PMCID: PMC10049270 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Pesticides pose a potential threat to bee health, especially in combination with other stressors, such as parasites. However, pesticide risk assessment tests pesticides in isolation from other stresses, i.e., on otherwise healthy bees. Through molecular analysis, the specific impacts of a pesticide or its interaction with another stressor can be elucidated. Molecular mass profiling by MALDI BeeTyping® was used on bee haemolymph to explore the signature of pesticidal and parasitic stressor impacts. This approach was complemented by bottom-up proteomics to investigate the modulation of the haemoproteome. We tested acute oral doses of three pesticides—glyphosate, Amistar and sulfoxaflor—on the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, alongside the gut parasite Crithidia bombi. We found no impact of any pesticide on parasite intensity and no impact of sulfoxaflor or glyphosate on survival or weight change. Amistar caused weight loss and 19–41% mortality. Haemoproteome analysis showed various protein dysregulations. The major pathways dysregulated were those involved in insect defences and immune responses, with Amistar having the strongest impact on these dysregulated pathways. Our results show that even when no response can be seen at a whole organism level, MALDI BeeTyping® can detect effects. Mass spectrometry analysis of bee haemolymph provides a pertinent tool to evaluate stressor impacts on bee health, even at the level of individuals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dalel Askri
- Plateforme BioPark d’Archamps, 74160 Archamps, France
- Correspondence:
| | - Edward A. Straw
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution & Behaviour, Department of Biological Sciences, School for Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
- Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland
| | - Karim Arafah
- Plateforme BioPark d’Archamps, 74160 Archamps, France
| | - Sébastien N. Voisin
- Plateforme BioPark d’Archamps, 74160 Archamps, France
- Phylogene S.A. 62 RN113, 30620 Bernis, France
| | | | - Mark J. F. Brown
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution & Behaviour, Department of Biological Sciences, School for Life Sciences and the Environment, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Philippe Bulet
- CR, University Grenoble Alpes, IAB Inserm 1209, CNRS UMR5309, 38000 Grenoble, France
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Nelson KS, Burchfield EK. Defining features of diverse and productive agricultural systems: An archetype analysis of U.S. agricultural counties. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1081079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Prior research suggests that greater spatial diversity in crops and land use is associated with higher crop yields and improved ecosystem function. However, what leads to the emergence of agricultural systems that meet both productivity and ecological health goals remains an open question. Understanding the factors that differentiate these places from other agricultural systems is key to understanding the mechanisms, pathways, consequences, and constraints to employing diversification as a tool for increasing agricultural sustainability. In this study, we employ archetype analysis to examine the factors uniquely associated with the conjoint existence of high crop diversity and high crop productivity. We identify five agricultural system classes that represent a range of diversity and productivity combinations using k-means cluster analysis then use random forests analysis to identify factors that strongly explain the differences between the classes—describing different agricultural production regimes. Our exploratory analysis of the difference in agricultural system factors across classes suggests (1) crop diversity and its preconditions are associated with the highest yields, (2) biophysical conditions bound diversity-productivity realities, (3) productivity comes at a petrochemical cost, and that (4) crop rotations are a key diversification strategy. Overall, our results suggest that despite clear biophysical constraints on transitions to high diversity—high productivity systems the role of actionable factors on crop production regimes is stronger, providing reason to be hopeful about transitions to agricultural production regimes fit for new climate realities.
Collapse
|
15
|
Neff F, Korner-Nievergelt F, Rey E, Albrecht M, Bollmann K, Cahenzli F, Chittaro Y, Gossner MM, Martínez-Núñez C, Meier ES, Monnerat C, Moretti M, Roth T, Herzog F, Knop E. Different roles of concurring climate and regional land-use changes in past 40 years' insect trends. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7611. [PMID: 36509742 PMCID: PMC9744861 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35223-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate and land-use changes are main drivers of insect declines, but their combined effects have not yet been quantified over large spatiotemporal scales. We analysed changes in the distribution (mean occupancy of squares) of 390 insect species (butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies), using 1.45 million records from across bioclimatic gradients of Switzerland between 1980 and 2020. We found no overall decline, but strong increases and decreases in the distributions of different species. For species that showed strongest increases (25% quantile), the average proportion of occupied squares increased in 40 years by 0.128 (95% credible interval: 0.123-0.132), which equals an average increase in mean occupancy of 71.3% (95% CI: 67.4-75.1%) relative to their 40-year mean occupancy. For species that showed strongest declines (25% quantile), the average proportion decreased by 0.0660 (95% CI: 0.0613-0.0709), equalling an average decrease in mean occupancy of 58.3% (95% CI: 52.2-64.4%). Decreases were strongest for narrow-ranged, specialised, and cold-adapted species. Short-term distribution changes were associated to both climate changes and regional land-use changes. Moreover, interactive effects between climate and regional land-use changes confirm that the various drivers of global change can have even greater impacts on biodiversity in combination than alone. In contrast, 40-year distribution changes were not clearly related to regional land-use changes, potentially reflecting mixed changes in local land use after 1980. Climate warming however was strongly linked to 40-year changes, indicating its key role in driving insect trends of temperate regions in recent decades.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Felix Neff
- grid.417771.30000 0004 4681 910XAgroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt
- grid.419767.a0000 0001 1512 3677Swiss Ornithological Institute, Seerose 1, 6204 Sempach, Switzerland
| | - Emmanuel Rey
- info fauna, Avenue de Bellevaux 51, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Albrecht
- grid.417771.30000 0004 4681 910XAgroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Kurt Bollmann
- grid.419754.a0000 0001 2259 5533Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Fabian Cahenzli
- grid.424520.50000 0004 0511 762XDepartment of Crop Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Ackerstrasse 113, 5070 Frick, Switzerland
| | | | - Martin M. Gossner
- grid.419754.a0000 0001 2259 5533Forest Entomology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland ,grid.5801.c0000 0001 2156 2780Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Carlos Martínez-Núñez
- grid.417771.30000 0004 4681 910XAgroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Eliane S. Meier
- grid.417771.30000 0004 4681 910XAgroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Marco Moretti
- grid.419754.a0000 0001 2259 5533Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Roth
- grid.6612.30000 0004 1937 0642Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland ,Hintermann & Weber AG, Austrasse 2a, 4153 Reinach, Switzerland
| | - Felix Herzog
- grid.417771.30000 0004 4681 910XAgroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Eva Knop
- grid.417771.30000 0004 4681 910XAgroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zürich, Switzerland ,grid.7400.30000 0004 1937 0650Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Doublet V, Doyle T, Refoy I, Hedges S, Carvell C, Brown MJF, Wilfert L. Increasing flower species richness in agricultural landscapes alters insect pollinator networks: Implications for bee health and competition. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9442. [PMID: 36311409 PMCID: PMC9608809 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecological restoration programs are established to reverse land degradation, mitigate biodiversity loss, and reinstate ecosystem services. Following recent agricultural intensification that led to a decrease in flower diversity and density in rural areas and subsequently to the decline of many insects, conservation measures targeted at pollinators have been established, including sown wildflower strips (WFS) along field margins. Historically successful in establishing a high density of generalist bees and increasing pollinator diversity, the impact of enhanced flower provision on wider ecological interactions and the structure of pollinator networks has been rarely investigated. Here, we tested the effects of increasing flower species richness and flower density in agricultural landscapes on bee‐plant interaction networks. We measured plant species richness and flower density and surveyed honeybee and bumblebee visits on flowers across a range of field margins on 10 UK farms that applied different pollinator conservation measures. We found that both flower species richness and flower density significantly increased bee abundance, in early and late summer, respectively. At the network level, we found that higher flower species richness did not significantly alter bee species' generality indices, but significantly reduced network connectance and marginally reduced niche overlap across honeybees and bumblebee species, a proxy for insect competition. While higher connectance and niche overlap is believed to strengthen network robustness and often is the aim for the restoration of pollinator networks, we argue that carefully designed WFS may benefit bees by partitioning their foraging niche, limiting competition for resources and the potential for disease transmission via shared floral use. We also discuss the need to extend WFS and their positive effects into spring when wild bee populations are established.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Doublet
- College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK,Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation GenomicsUniversity of UlmUlmGermany
| | - Toby Doyle
- College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK
| | - Isobel Refoy
- College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK
| | - Sophie Hedges
- College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK,Department of Comparative Biomedical SciencesThe Royal Veterinary CollegeHatfieldUK
| | | | - Mark J. F. Brown
- Department of Biological SciencesRoyal Holloway University of LondonEghamUK
| | - Lena Wilfert
- College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK,Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation GenomicsUniversity of UlmUlmGermany
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Jackson HM, Johnson SA, Morandin LA, Richardson LL, Guzman LM, M'Gonigle LK. Climate change winners and losers among North American bumblebees. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210551. [PMID: 35728617 PMCID: PMC9213113 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that climate change, agricultural intensification and disease are impacting bumblebee health and contributing to species’ declines. Identifying how these factors impact insect communities at large spatial and temporal scales is difficult, partly because species may respond in different ways. Further, the necessary data must span large spatial and temporal scales, which usually means they comprise aggregated, presence-only records collected using numerous methods (e.g. diversity surveys, educational collections, citizen-science projects, standardized ecological surveys). Here, we use occupancy models, which explicitly correct for biases in the species observation process, to quantify the effect of changes in temperature, precipitation and floral resources on bumblebee site occupancy over the past 12 decades in North America. We find no evidence of genus-wide declines in site occupancy, but do find that occupancy is strongly related to temperature, and is only weakly related to precipitation or floral resources. We also find that more species are likely to be climate change ‘losers’ than ‘winners’ and that this effect is primarily associated with changing temperature. Importantly, all trends were highly species-specific, highlighting that genus or community-wide measures may not reflect diverse species-specific patterns that are critical in guiding allocation of conservation resources.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hanna M Jackson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Sarah A Johnson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Lora A Morandin
- Pollinator Partnership, 600 Montgomery Street, Suite 440, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA
| | - Leif L Richardson
- Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, 628 NE Broadway, Ste. 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA
| | - Laura Melissa Guzman
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6.,Marine and Environmental Biology section at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Allan Hancock Foundation Building, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0371, USA
| | - Leithen K M'Gonigle
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Whitehorn PR, Seo B, Comont RF, Rounsevell M, Brown C. The effects of climate and land use on British bumblebees: Findings from a decade of citizen‐science observations. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Penelope R. Whitehorn
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU) Garmisch‐Partenkirchen Germany
- Highlands Rewilding Ltd. Drumnadrochit UK
| | - Bumsuk Seo
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU) Garmisch‐Partenkirchen Germany
| | | | - Mark Rounsevell
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU) Garmisch‐Partenkirchen Germany
- School of Geosciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
| | - Calum Brown
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU) Garmisch‐Partenkirchen Germany
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Filipiak ZM, Denisow B, Stawiarz E, Filipiak M. Unravelling the dependence of a wild bee on floral diversity and composition using a feeding experiment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 820:153326. [PMID: 35074369 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We investigated nutrition as a potential mechanism underlying the link between floral diversity/composition and wild bee performance. The health, resilience, and fitness of bees may be limited by a lack of nutritionally balanced larval food (pollen), influencing the entire population, even if adults are not limited nutritionally by the availability and quality of their food (mainly nectar). We hypothesized that the nutritional quality of bee larval food is indirectly connected to the species diversity of pollen provisions and is directly driven by the pollen species composition. Therefore, the accessibility of specific, nutritionally desirable key plant species for larvae might promote bee populations. Using a fully controlled feeding experiment, we simulated different pollen resources that could be available to bees in various environments, reflecting potential changes in floral species diversity and composition that could be caused by landscape changes. Suboptimal concentrations of certain nutrients in pollen produced by specific plant species resulted in reduced bee fitness. The negative effects were alleviated when scarce nutrients were added to these pollen diets. The scarcity of specific nutrients was associated with certain plant species but not with plant diversity. Thus, one of the mechanisms underlying the decreased fitness of wild bees in homogenous landscapes may be nutritional imbalance, i.e., the scarcity of specific nutrients associated with the presence of certain plant species and not with species diversity in pollen provisions eaten by larvae. Accordingly, we provide a conceptual representation of how the floral species composition and diversity can impact bee populations by affecting fitness-related life history traits. Additionally, we suggest that mixes of 'bee-friendly' plants used to improve the nutritional base for wild bees should be composed considering the local flora to supplement bees with vital nutrients that are scarce in the considered environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zuzanna M Filipiak
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Bożena Denisow
- Laboratory of Plant Biology, Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
| | - Ernest Stawiarz
- Laboratory of Plant Biology, Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
| | - Michał Filipiak
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Sáez A, Aguilar R, Ashworth L, Gleiser G, Morales CL, Traveset A, Aizen MA. Managed honeybees decrease pollination limitation in self-compatible but not in self-incompatible crops. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220086. [PMID: 35382601 PMCID: PMC8984806 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Modern agriculture is becoming increasingly pollinator-dependent. However, the global stock of domesticated honeybees is growing at a slower rate than its demand, while wild bees are declining worldwide. This uneven scenario of high pollinator demand and low pollinator availability can translate into increasing pollination limitation, reducing the yield of pollinator-dependent crops. However, overall assessments of crop pollination limitation and the factors determining its magnitude are missing. Based on 52 published studies including 30 crops, we conducted a meta-analysis comparing crop yield in pollen-supplemented versus open-pollinated flowers. We assessed the overall magnitude of pollination limitation and whether this magnitude was influenced by (i) the presence/absence of managed honeybees, (ii) crop compatibility system (i.e. self-compatible/self-incompatible) and (iii) the interaction between these two factors. Overall, pollen supplementation increased yield by approximately 34%, indicating sizable pollination limitation. Deployment of managed honeybees and self-compatibility were associated with lower pollination limitation. Particularly, active honeybee management decreased pollination limitation among self-compatible but apparently not among self-incompatible crops. These findings indicate that current pollination regimes are, in general, inadequate to maximize crop yield, even when including managed honeybees, and stress the need of transforming the pollination management paradigm of agricultural landscapes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Sáez
- Grupo de Ecología de la Polinización (ECOPOL), Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, Bariloche 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Ramiro Aguilar
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina.,Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica (LANASE), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 58190 Morelia, México
| | - Lorena Ashworth
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina.,Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica (LANASE), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 58190 Morelia, México
| | - Gabriela Gleiser
- Grupo de Ecología de la Polinización (ECOPOL), Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, Bariloche 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Carolina L Morales
- Grupo de Ecología de la Polinización (ECOPOL), Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, Bariloche 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Anna Traveset
- Global Change Research Group, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, 07190 Esporles, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Marcelo A Aizen
- Grupo de Ecología de la Polinización (ECOPOL), Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente (INIBIOMA), CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, Bariloche 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina.,Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Berlin 14193, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Donald ML, Bolstridge N, Ridden JD. Precision glycerine jelly swab for removing pollen from small and fragile insect specimens. Methods Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marion L. Donald
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, 54 Gerald St Lincoln, NZ, 7608
| | - Nic Bolstridge
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, 54 Gerald St Lincoln, NZ, 7608
| | - Johnathon D. Ridden
- Canterbury Museum, 11 Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch Central City Christchurch, NZ, 8013
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Quinlan GM, Milbrath MO, Otto CRV, Isaacs R. Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies benefit from grassland/ pasture while bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies in the same landscapes benefit from non-corn/soybean cropland. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257701. [PMID: 34543363 PMCID: PMC8452077 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Agriculturally important commercially managed pollinators including honey bees (Apis mellifera L., 1758) and bumble bees (Bombus impatiens Cresson, 1863) rely on the surrounding landscape to fulfill their dietary needs. A previous study in Europe demonstrated that managed honey bee foragers and unmanaged native bumble bee foragers are associated with different land uses. However, it is unclear how response to land use compares between managed honey bees and a managed native bumble bee species in the United States, where honey bees are an imported species. Furthermore, to our knowledge, no such direct comparisons of bee responses to land use have been made at the colony level. To better understand how two different social bees respond to variation in land use, we monitored the weights of A. mellifera and B. impatiens colonies placed in 12 apiaries across a range of land use in Michigan, United States in 2017. Bombus impatiens colonies gained more weight and produced more drones when surrounded by diverse agricultural land (i.e., non-corn/soybean cropland such as tree fruits and grapes), while honey bee colonies gained more weight when surrounded by more grassland/pasture land. These findings add to our understanding of how different bee species respond to agricultural landscapes, highlighting the need for further species-specific land use studies to inform tailored land management.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela M. Quinlan
- Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States of America
| | - Meghan O. Milbrath
- Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States of America
| | - Clint R. V. Otto
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND, United States of America
| | - Rufus Isaacs
- Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|