Flowering resources modulate the sensitivity of bumblebees to a common fungicide

Wintermantel, Dimitry; Pereira-Peixoto, Maria-Helena; Warth, Nadja; Melcher, Kristin; Faller, Michael; Feurer, Joachim; Allan, Matthew J.; Dean, Robin; Tamburini, Giovanni; Knauer, Anina; Schwarz, Janine Melanie; Albrecht, Matthias; Klein, Alexandra‐Maria

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154450

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Bees may also be subject to other simultaneous stressors in the field that may interact synergistically with pesticide exposure (e.g. nutritional stress; Wintermantel et al, 2022). Together, this suggests that it is important to investigate the impacts of non‐neonicotinoid pesticides mimicking a variety of different scenarios of exposures, concentrations and behaviours to ensure a complete understanding of their potential impacts and modes of action.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐neonicotinoid pesticides impact bumblebee activity and pollen provisioning

O'Reilly

Stanley

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Bees are essential pollinators of crops and wild plants and their ability to forage and pollinate are key aspects of their behaviour. Bee populations are under threat, with the use of insecticides a contributing factor. Most research has focused on neonicotinoid insecticides and bee mortality, and little is known about impacts on bee foraging and delivery of pollination services. However, other insecticide classes, such as organophosphates and pyrethroids, are increasingly used globally, but little is known about how these widely used substances may impact bees, particularly non‐honeybees. We exposed bumblebee Bombus terrestris colonies to field‐relevant doses of a pyrethroid (lambda‐cyhalothrin) and an organophosphate (dimethoate) and investigated sublethal effects on behaviour at the individual and colony level, in addition to pollination service delivery under semi‐field conditions. We show, for the first time, that exposure to these chemicals impacts the activity and pollen provisioning of bumblebee Bombus terrestris audax colonies, while no short‐term effects on flower handling behaviour or pollination service delivery were detected. We found that colonies exposed to dimethoate were less active, with 67% fewer bees leaving the colony to forage than control colonies, and of those that returned, 92% fewer returned pollen provisions to the nest. Colonies exposed to lambda‐cyhalothrin did not differ in activity; however, 62% fewer of these bees returned with pollen provisions. Policy implications. These findings give important insights into how exposure to different classes of insecticides could impact bumblebee activity and their provision of pollen required for colony development. With a focus on neonicotinoids in terms of policy changes regarding insecticides and bees, we show that other insecticide classes should also be re‐examined in relation to their potential risks for pollinators. We confirm the need to improve risk assessment of insecticides to assess sublethal effects, include non‐honeybee species in risk assessment processes and also consider key behaviours such as foraging and interactions with plants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐neonicotinoid pesticides impact bumblebee activity and pollen provisioning

O'Reilly

Stanley

2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…This test combines multiple realistic elements, including the requirement for bees to actively forage on a treated crop (e.g. Tamburini et al., 2021 ; Wintermantel et al., 2022 ); however, it is not fully realistic, and as such the results of this test may be superseded by the results of a field test.…”

Section: Higher Tier Risk Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is increasing support for that local access to a diversity of flower resources can reduce bee exposure to PPPs and resulting effects on bees based on both semi‐field (Stuligross and Williams, 2020 ; Ingwell et al., 2021 ; Klaus et al., 2021 ; Wintermantel et al., 2022 ) and field (Rundlöf et al., 2022 ) studies. Establishment of local flower plantings could thus be a risk mitigation measure for testing and development by applicants.…”

Section: Risk Mitigation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revised guidance on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees)

Adriaanse¹,

Arce²,

Focks³

et al. 2023

EFS2

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The European Commission asked EFSA to revise the risk assessment for honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees. This guidance document describes how to perform risk assessment for bees from plant protection products, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 1107/2009. It is a review of EFSA's existing guidance document, which was published in 2013. The guidance document outlines a tiered approach for exposure estimation in different scenarios and tiers. It includes hazard characterisation and provides risk assessment methodology covering dietary and contact exposure. The document also provides recommendations for higher tier studies, risk from metabolites and plant protection products as mixture.

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“…These interactions and context specific impacts of pesticides are particularly important to understand as they also provide potential avenues for reducing or mitigating effects of insecticides. For example, if impacts of a pesticide are reduced when bees have access to more diverse forage and nutrition in a landscape (as seen in Wintermantel et al (2022)), then this could be implemented as a measure through agrienvironmental management to mitigate pesticide effects (Rundlöf et al, 2022). This added complexity to assessing risk is important and valuable especially in the context of modelling future impacts of insecticide use on non-target organisms.…”

Section: Synergistic and Cocktail Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Past Neonicotinoids and Honeybees: A Systematic Review of Existing Research on Other Insecticides and Bees

Dirilgen

Herbertsson

O'Reilly

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Synthetic pesticides are used widely in agriculture to protect crops from pests, weeds and disease. However, their use also comes with a range of environmental concerns. One of which is effects of insecticides on non-target organisms such as bees, who provide pollination services for crops and wild plants. This systematic literature review quantifies the existing research on bees and insecticides broadly, and then focuses more specifically on non-neonicotinoid insecticides and non-honeybees. We find that articles on honeybees (Apis sp.) and insecticides account for 80% of all research, with all other bees combined making up 20%. Neonicotinoids were studied in 34% of articles across all bees and were the most widely studied insecticide class for non-honeybees overall, with almost three times as many studies than the second most studied class. Of non-neonicotinoid insecticide classes and non-honeybees; the most studied were pyrethroids and organophosphates followed by carbamates, and the most widely represented bee taxa were bumblebees (Bombus), followed by leaf-cutter bees (Megachile) and mason bees (Osmia). Research has taken place across several countries, with the highest numbers of articles from Brazil and the US, and with notable gaps from countries in Asia, Africa and Oceania. Mortality was the most studied effect type, while sub-lethal effects such as on behaviour were less studied. Few studies tested how insecticides were influenced by other multiple pressures, such as climate change and co-occurring pesticides (cocktail effects). As anthropogenic pressures do not occur in isolation, we suggest that future research also addresses these knowledge gaps. Given the changing global patterns in insecticide use, and the increasing inclusion of both non-honeybees and sub-lethal effects in pesticide risk assessment, there is a need for expanding research beyond current state to ensure a strong scientific evidence base for the development of risk assessment and associated policy.

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Flowering resources modulate the sensitivity of bumblebees to a common fungicide

Cited by 20 publications

References 86 publications

Non‐neonicotinoid pesticides impact bumblebee activity and pollen provisioning

Non‐neonicotinoid pesticides impact bumblebee activity and pollen provisioning

Revised guidance on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees)

Moving Past Neonicotinoids and Honeybees: A Systematic Review of Existing Research on Other Insecticides and Bees

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