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Frank ET, Kesner L, Liberti J, Helleu Q, LeBoeuf AC, Dascalu A, Sponsler DB, Azuma F, Economo EP, Waridel P, Engel P, Schmitt T, Keller L. Targeted treatment of injured nestmates with antimicrobial compounds in an ant society. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8446. [PMID: 38158416 PMCID: PMC10756881 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43885-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Infected wounds pose a major mortality risk in animals. Injuries are common in the ant Megaponera analis, which raids pugnacious prey. Here we show that M. analis can determine when wounds are infected and treat them accordingly. By applying a variety of antimicrobial compounds and proteins secreted from the metapleural gland to infected wounds, workers reduce the mortality of infected individuals by 90%. Chemical analyses showed that wound infection is associated with specific changes in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile, thereby likely allowing nestmates to diagnose the infection state of injured individuals and apply the appropriate antimicrobial treatment. This study demonstrates that M. analis ant societies use antimicrobial compounds produced in the metapleural glands to treat infected wounds and reduce nestmate mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik T Frank
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Lucie Kesner
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Joanito Liberti
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Quentin Helleu
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Structure et Instabilité des Génomes, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7196, INSERM U1154, 43 rue Cuvier, F-75005, Paris, France
| | - Adria C LeBoeuf
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, CH-1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Andrei Dascalu
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Douglas B Sponsler
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Fumika Azuma
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, 904-0495, Japan
| | - Evan P Economo
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, 904-0495, Japan
- Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, USA
| | - Patrice Waridel
- Protein Analysis Facility, Génopode, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Philipp Engel
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, D-97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Laurent Keller
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Sponsler DB, Requier F, Kallnik K, Classen A, Maihoff F, Sieger J, Steffan-Dewenter I. Contrasting patterns of richness, abundance, and turnover in mountain bumble bees and their floral hosts. Ecology 2022; 103:e3712. [PMID: 35363383 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Environmental gradients generate and maintain biodiversity on Earth. Mountain slopes are among the most pronounced terrestrial environmental gradients, and the elevational structure of species and their interactions can provide unique insight into the processes that govern community assembly and function in mountain ecosystems. We recorded bumble bee-flower interactions over three years along an 1400 m elevational gradient in the German Alps. Using nonlinear modeling techniques, we analyzed elevational patterns at the levels of abundance, species richness, species β-diversity, and interaction β-diversity. While floral richness exhibited a mid-elevation peak, bumble bee richness increased with elevation before leveling off at the highest sites, demonstrating the exceptional adaptation of these bees to cold temperatures and short growing seasons. In terms of abundance, though, bumble bees exhibited divergent species-level responses to elevation, with a clear separation between species preferring low vs. high elevations. Overall interaction β-diversity was mainly caused by strong turnover in the floral community, which exhibited a well-defined threshold of β-diversity rate at the tree line ecotone. Interaction β-diversity increased sharply at the upper extreme of the elevation gradient (1800-2000 m), an interval over which we also saw steep decline in floral richness and abundance. Turnover of bumble bees along the elevation gradient was modest, with the highest rate of β-diversity occurring over the interval from low- to mid-elevation sites. The contrast between the relative robustness bumble bee communities and sensitivity of plant communities to the elevational gradient in our study suggests that the strongest effects of climate change on mountain bumble bees may be indirect effects mediated by the responses of their floral hosts, though bumble bee species that specialize on high-elevation habitats may also experience significant direct effects of warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B Sponsler
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Fabrice Requier
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, UMR Évolution, Génomes, Comportement et Écologie, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Katharina Kallnik
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Alice Classen
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Fabienne Maihoff
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | | | - Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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3
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B. Sponsler
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology BiocenterUniversity of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
- Department of Botany The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Philadelphia PA USA
| | - Eve Z. Bratman
- Department of Earth & Environment Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster PA USA
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4
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Lin C, Sponsler DB, Richardson RT, Watters HD, Glinski DA, Henderson WM, Minucci JM, Lee EH, Purucker ST, Johnson RM. Honey Bees and Neonicotinoid-Treated Corn Seed: Contamination, Exposure, and Effects. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021; 40:1212-1221. [PMID: 33289922 PMCID: PMC8048971 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Most corn (Zea mays) seeds planted in the United States in recent years are coated with a seed treatment containing neonicotinoid insecticides. Abrasion of the seed coating generates insecticide-laden planter dust that disperses through the landscape during corn planting and has resulted in many "bee-kill" incidents in North America and Europe. We investigated the linkage between corn planting and honey bee colony success in a region dominated by corn agriculture. Over 3 yr we consistently observed an increased presence of corn seed treatment insecticides in bee-collected pollen and elevated worker bee mortality during corn planting. Residues of seed treatment neonicotinoids, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, detected in pollen positively correlated with cornfield area surrounding the apiaries. Elevated worker mortality was also observed in experimental colonies fed field-collected pollen containing known concentrations of corn seed treatment insecticides. We monitored colony growth throughout the subsequent year in 2015 and found that colonies exposed to higher insecticide concentrations exhibited slower population growth during the month of corn planting but demonstrated more rapid growth in the month following, though this difference may be related to forage availability. Exposure to seed treatment neonicotinoids during corn planting has clear short-term detrimental effects on honey bee colonies and may affect the viability of beekeeping operations that are dependent on maximizing colony size in the springtime. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:1212-1221. © 2020 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia‐Hua Lin
- Department of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development CenterThe Ohio State UniversityWoosterOhioUSA
| | - Douglas B. Sponsler
- Department of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development CenterThe Ohio State UniversityWoosterOhioUSA
| | - Rodney T. Richardson
- Department of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development CenterThe Ohio State UniversityWoosterOhioUSA
| | - Harold D. Watters
- Department of ExtensionThe Ohio State UniversityBellefontaineOhioUSA
| | | | - W. Matthew Henderson
- Center for Environmental Measurement and ModelingUS Environmental Protection AgencyAthensGeorgia
| | - Jeffrey M. Minucci
- Center for Computational Toxicity and ExposureUS Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle ParkNorth Carolina
| | - E. Henry Lee
- Center for Public Health and Environmental AssessmentUS Environmental Protection AgencyCorvallisOregon
| | - S. Thomas Purucker
- Center for Computational Toxicity and ExposureUS Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle ParkNorth Carolina
| | - Reed M. Johnson
- Department of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development CenterThe Ohio State UniversityWoosterOhioUSA
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5
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Richardson RT, Eaton TD, Lin CH, Cherry G, Johnson RM, Sponsler DB. Application of plant metabarcoding to identify diverse honeybee pollen forage along an urban-agricultural gradient. Mol Ecol 2020; 30:310-323. [PMID: 33098151 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Understanding animal foraging ecology requires large sample sizes spanning broad environmental and temporal gradients. For pollinators, this has been hampered by the laborious nature of morphologically identifying pollen. Identifying pollen from urban environments is particularly difficult due to the presence of diverse ornamental species associated with consumer horticulture. Metagenetic pollen analysis represents a potential solution to this issue. Building upon prior laboratory and bioinformatic methods, we applied quantitative multilocus metabarcoding to characterize the foraging ecology of honeybee colonies situated in urban, suburban, mixed suburban-agricultural and rural agricultural sites in central Ohio, USA. In cross-validating a subset of our metabarcoding results using microscopic palynology, we find strong concordance between the molecular and microscopic methods. Our results suggest that forage from the agricultural site exhibited decreased taxonomic diversity and temporal turnover relative to the urban and suburban sites, though the generalization of this observation will require replication across additional sites and cities. Our work demonstrates the power of honeybees as environmental samplers of floral community composition at large spatial scales, aiding in the distinction of taxa characteristically associated with urban or agricultural land use from those distributed ubiquitously across the sampled landscapes. Observed patterns of high forage diversity and compositional turnover in our more urban sites are likely reflective of the fine-grain heterogeneity and high beta diversity of urban floral landscapes at the scale of honeybee foraging. This provides guidance for future studies investigating how relationships between urbanization and measures of pollinator health are mediated by variation in floral resource dynamics across landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodney T Richardson
- Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Frostburg, MD, USA
| | - Tyler D Eaton
- Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA
| | - Chia-Hua Lin
- Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA
| | - Garrett Cherry
- Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA
| | - Reed M Johnson
- Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA
| | - Douglas B Sponsler
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Department of Botany, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Sponsler DB, Shump D, Richardson RT, Grozinger CM. Characterizing the floral resources of a North American metropolis using a honey bee foraging assay. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B. Sponsler
- Department of Entomology Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences Center for Pollinator Research Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania 16802 USA
| | - Don Shump
- Philadelphia Bee Company Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19125 USA
| | | | - Christina M. Grozinger
- Department of Entomology Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences Center for Pollinator Research Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania 16802 USA
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Douglas MR, Sponsler DB, Lonsdorf EV, Grozinger CM. County-level analysis reveals a rapidly shifting landscape of insecticide hazard to honey bees (Apis mellifera) on US farmland. Sci Rep 2020; 10:797. [PMID: 31964921 PMCID: PMC6972851 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-57225-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Each year, millions of kilograms of insecticides are applied to crops in the US. While insecticide use supports food, fuel, and fiber production, it can also threaten non-target organisms, a concern underscored by mounting evidence of widespread decline of pollinator populations. Here, we integrate several public datasets to generate county-level annual estimates of total 'bee toxic load' (honey bee lethal doses) for insecticides applied in the US between 1997-2012, calculated separately for oral and contact toxicity. To explore the underlying components of the observed changes, we divide bee toxic load into extent (area treated) and intensity (application rate x potency). We show that while contact-based bee toxic load remained relatively steady, oral-based bee toxic load increased roughly 9-fold, with reductions in application rate outweighed by disproportionate increases in potency (toxicity/kg) and extent. This pattern varied markedly by region, with the greatest increase seen in Heartland (121-fold increase), likely driven by use of neonicotinoid seed treatments in corn and soybean. In this "potency paradox", farmland in the central US has become more hazardous to bees despite lower volumes of insecticides applied, raising concerns about insect conservation and highlighting the importance of integrative approaches to pesticide use monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret R Douglas
- Department of Environmental Studies & Environmental Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, 17013, USA.
| | - Douglas B Sponsler
- Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802, PA, USA
| | - Eric V Lonsdorf
- Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Christina M Grozinger
- Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802, PA, USA
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8
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Sponsler DB, Grozinger CM, Richardson RT, Nurse A, Brough D, Patch HM, Stoner KA. A screening-level assessment of the pollinator-attractiveness of ornamental nursery stock using a honey bee foraging assay. Sci Rep 2020; 10:831. [PMID: 31965017 PMCID: PMC6972849 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-57858-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In urban and suburban landscapes characterized by extensive designed greenspaces, the support of pollinator communities hinges significantly on floral resources provided by ornamental plants. The attractiveness of ornamental plants to pollinators, however, cannot be presumed, and some studies suggest that a majority of ornamental plant varieties receive little or no pollinator visitation. Here, we harness the sampling power of the western honey bee, a generalist pollinator whose diet breadth overlaps substantially with that of other pollinators, to survey the utilization of ornamental plants grown at three commercial nurseries in Connecticut, USA. Using a combination of DNA metabarcoding and microscopy, we identify, to genus-level, pollen samples from honey bee colonies placed within each nursery, and we compare our results with nursery plant inventories to identify the subset of cultivated genera that were visited during pollen foraging. Samples were collected weekly from May to September, encompassing the majority of the growing season. Our findings show that some plant genera known to be cultivated as ornamentals in our system, particularly ornamental trees and shrubs (e.g. Hydrangea, Rosa, Spiraea, Syringa, Viburnum), functioned as major pollen sources, but the majority of plants inventoried at our nurseries provided little or no pollen to honey bees. These results are in agreement with a growing body of literature highlighting the special importance of woody plants as resources for flower-visiting insects. We encourage further exploration of the genera highlighted in our data as potential components of pollinator-friendly ornamental greenspace.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B Sponsler
- Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, PA, 16802, USA.
| | - Christina M Grozinger
- Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, PA, 16802, USA
| | | | - Andrea Nurse
- Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, 206 Sawyer Research Center, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA
| | - Dalton Brough
- Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Harland M Patch
- Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Kimberly A Stoner
- The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
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Richardson RT, Sponsler DB, McMinn‐Sauder H, Johnson RM. MetaCurator: A hidden Markov model‐based toolkit for extracting and curating sequences from taxonomically‐informative genetic markers. Methods Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Douglas B. Sponsler
- Department of Entomology Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USA
- Department of Botany The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Philadelphia PA USA
| | | | - Reed M. Johnson
- Department of Entomology The Ohio State University Columbus OH USA
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10
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Sponsler DB, Grozinger CM, Hitaj C, Rundlöf M, Botías C, Code A, Lonsdorf EV, Melathopoulos AP, Smith DJ, Suryanarayanan S, Thogmartin WE, Williams NM, Zhang M, Douglas MR. Pesticides and pollinators: A socioecological synthesis. Sci Total Environ 2019; 662:1012-1027. [PMID: 30738602 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Revised: 01/01/2019] [Accepted: 01/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between pesticides and pollinators, while attracting no shortage of attention from scientists, regulators, and the public, has proven resistant to scientific synthesis and fractious in matters of policy and public opinion. This is in part because the issue has been approached in a compartmentalized and intradisciplinary way, such that evaluations of organismal pesticide effects remain largely disjoint from their upstream drivers and downstream consequences. Here, we present a socioecological framework designed to synthesize the pesticide-pollinator system and inform future scholarship and action. Our framework consists of three interlocking domains-pesticide use, pesticide exposure, and pesticide effects-each consisting of causally linked patterns, processes, and states. We elaborate each of these domains and their linkages, reviewing relevant literature and providing empirical case studies. We then propose guidelines for future pesticide-pollinator scholarship and action agenda aimed at strengthening knowledge in neglected domains and integrating knowledge across domains to provide decision support for stakeholders and policymakers. Specifically, we emphasize (1) stakeholder engagement, (2) mechanistic study of pesticide exposure, (3) understanding the propagation of pesticide effects across levels of organization, and (4) full-cost accounting of the externalities of pesticide use and regulation. Addressing these items will require transdisciplinary collaborations within and beyond the scientific community, including the expertise of farmers, agrochemical developers, and policymakers in an extended peer community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B Sponsler
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, USA.
| | - Christina M Grozinger
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, USA
| | - Claudia Hitaj
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, D.C., USA
| | - Maj Rundlöf
- Lund University, Department of Biology, 223 62 Lund, Sweden; University of California, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Cristina Botías
- Laboratorio de Patología Apícola, Centro de Investigación Apícola y Agroambiental, IRIAF, Consejería de Agricultura de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, 19180 Marchamalo, Spain
| | - Aimee Code
- Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, USA
| | | | | | - David J Smith
- U. S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, D.C., USA
| | - Sainath Suryanarayanan
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Population Health Institute, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Wayne E Thogmartin
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI 54603, USA
| | - Neal M Williams
- University of California, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Minghua Zhang
- Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Margaret R Douglas
- Dickinson College, Department of Environmental Studies & Environmental Science, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA
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Richardson RT, Curtis HR, Matcham EG, Lin C, Suresh S, Sponsler DB, Hearon LE, Johnson RM. Quantitative multi‐locus metabarcoding and waggle dance interpretation reveal honey bee spring foraging patterns in Midwest agroecosystems. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:686-697. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.14975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Revised: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Hailey R. Curtis
- College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Emma G. Matcham
- Department of Horticulture and Crop Science The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Chia‐Hua Lin
- Department of Entomology The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Sreelakshmi Suresh
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Douglas B. Sponsler
- Department of Entomology Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
| | - Luke E. Hearon
- Department of Entomology The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
| | - Reed M. Johnson
- Department of Entomology The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio
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12
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Sponsler DB, Johnson RM. Mechanistic modeling of pesticide exposure: The missing keystone of honey bee toxicology. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017; 36:871-881. [PMID: 27769096 DOI: 10.1002/etc.3661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/19/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The role of pesticides in recent honey bee losses is controversial, partly because field studies often fail to detect effects predicted by laboratory studies. This dissonance highlights a critical gap in the field of honey bee toxicology: there exists little mechanistic understanding of the patterns and processes of exposure that link honey bees to pesticides in their environment. The authors submit that 2 key processes underlie honey bee pesticide exposure: 1) the acquisition of pesticide by foraging bees, and 2) the in-hive distribution of pesticide returned by foragers. The acquisition of pesticide by foraging bees must be understood as the spatiotemporal intersection between environmental contamination and honey bee foraging activity. This implies that exposure is distributional, not discrete, and that a subset of foragers may acquire harmful doses of pesticide while the mean colony exposure would appear safe. The in-hive distribution of pesticide is a complex process driven principally by food transfer interactions between colony members, and this process differs importantly between pollen and nectar. High priority should be placed on applying the extensive literature on honey bee biology to the development of more rigorously mechanistic models of honey bee pesticide exposure. In combination with mechanistic effects modeling, mechanistic exposure modeling has the potential to integrate the field of honey bee toxicology, advancing both risk assessment and basic research. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:871-881. © 2016 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Reed M Johnson
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio, USA
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13
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Sponsler DB, Matcham EG, Lin CH, Lanterman JL, Johnson RM. Spatial and taxonomic patterns of honey bee foraging: A choice test between urban and agricultural landscapes. Journal of Urban Ecology 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/jue/juw008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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14
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Abstract
Foraging honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) can routinely travel as far as several kilometers from their hive in the process of collecting nectar and pollen from floral patches within the surrounding landscape. Since the availability of floral resources at the landscape scale is a function of landscape composition, apiculturists have long recognized that landscape composition is a critical determinant of honey bee colony success. Nevertheless, very few studies present quantitative data relating colony success metrics to local landscape composition. We employed a beekeeper survey in conjunction with GIS-based landscape analysis to model colony success as a function of landscape composition in the State of Ohio, USA, a region characterized by intensive cropland, urban development, deciduous forest, and grassland. We found that colony food accumulation and wax production were positively related to cropland and negatively related to forest and grassland, a pattern that may be driven by the abundance of dandelion and clovers in agricultural areas compared to forest or mature grassland. Colony food accumulation was also negatively correlated with urban land cover in sites dominated by urban and agricultural land use, which does not support the popular opinion that the urban environment is more favorable to honey bees than cropland.
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Affiliation(s)
- D B Sponsler
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University , Wooster, OH , USA
| | - R M Johnson
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University , Wooster, OH , USA
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15
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Richardson RT, Lin CH, Sponsler DB, Quijia JO, Goodell K, Johnson RM. Application of ITS2 metabarcoding to determine the provenance of pollen collected by honey bees in an agroecosystem. Appl Plant Sci 2015; 3:apps1400066. [PMID: 25606352 DOI: 10.5061/dryad.64b5p] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2014] [Accepted: 12/04/2014] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY Melissopalynology, the identification of bee-collected pollen, provides insight into the flowers exploited by foraging bees. Information provided by melissopalynology could guide floral enrichment efforts aimed at supporting pollinators, but it has rarely been used because traditional methods of pollen identification are laborious and require expert knowledge. We approach melissopalynology in a novel way, employing a molecular method to study the pollen foraging of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in a landscape dominated by field crops, and compare these results to those obtained by microscopic melissopalynology. • METHODS Pollen was collected from honey bee colonies in Madison County, Ohio, USA, during a two-week period in midspring and identified using microscopic methods and ITS2 metabarcoding. • RESULTS Metabarcoding identified 19 plant families and exhibited sensitivity for identifying the taxa present in large and diverse pollen samples relative to microscopy, which identified eight families. The bulk of pollen collected by honey bees was from trees (Sapindaceae, Oleaceae, and Rosaceae), although dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and mustard (Brassicaceae) pollen were also abundant. • DISCUSSION For quantitative analysis of pollen, using both metabarcoding and microscopic identification is superior to either individual method. For qualitative analysis, ITS2 metabarcoding is superior, providing heightened sensitivity and genus-level resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodney T Richardson
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Chia-Hua Lin
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Douglas B Sponsler
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Juan O Quijia
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Karen Goodell
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1179 University Dr., Newark, Ohio 43023 USA
| | - Reed M Johnson
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
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Richardson RT, Lin CH, Sponsler DB, Quijia JO, Goodell K, Johnson RM. Application of ITS2 metabarcoding to determine the provenance of pollen collected by honey bees in an agroecosystem. Appl Plant Sci 2015; 3:apps1400066. [PMID: 25606352 PMCID: PMC4298230 DOI: 10.3732/apps.1400066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2014] [Accepted: 12/04/2014] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY Melissopalynology, the identification of bee-collected pollen, provides insight into the flowers exploited by foraging bees. Information provided by melissopalynology could guide floral enrichment efforts aimed at supporting pollinators, but it has rarely been used because traditional methods of pollen identification are laborious and require expert knowledge. We approach melissopalynology in a novel way, employing a molecular method to study the pollen foraging of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in a landscape dominated by field crops, and compare these results to those obtained by microscopic melissopalynology. • METHODS Pollen was collected from honey bee colonies in Madison County, Ohio, USA, during a two-week period in midspring and identified using microscopic methods and ITS2 metabarcoding. • RESULTS Metabarcoding identified 19 plant families and exhibited sensitivity for identifying the taxa present in large and diverse pollen samples relative to microscopy, which identified eight families. The bulk of pollen collected by honey bees was from trees (Sapindaceae, Oleaceae, and Rosaceae), although dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and mustard (Brassicaceae) pollen were also abundant. • DISCUSSION For quantitative analysis of pollen, using both metabarcoding and microscopic identification is superior to either individual method. For qualitative analysis, ITS2 metabarcoding is superior, providing heightened sensitivity and genus-level resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodney T. Richardson
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University–Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Chia-Hua Lin
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University–Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
- Author for correspondence:
| | - Douglas B. Sponsler
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University–Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Juan O. Quijia
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University–Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
| | - Karen Goodell
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1179 University Dr., Newark, Ohio 43023 USA
| | - Reed M. Johnson
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University–Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 USA
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