Why Bees Are So Vulnerable to Environmental Stressors

Klein, Simon; Cabirol, Amélie; Devaud, Jean-Marc; Barron, Andrew B.; Lihoreau, Mathieu

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.12.009

Cited by 206 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…This was already described in vespids (Roberson, Nordheim, & Jeanne, 2003): They observed a bimodal repartition of the workers of Vespula germanica , few of them making disproportionate number of trips. In bees, the proportion of such atypical foraging behaviors in a colony varies with colony condition and also environmental stressors (Grüter et al., 2010; Klein, Cabriol, Devaud, Barron, & Lihoreau, 2017). Such observations should be confirmed in V. velutina but may be important in trying understanding the capacity of workers to explore novel terrain around their colony and thus the niche size of a colony.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Poidatz

Monceau

Bonnard

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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In social insects, the activity rhythm of foragers and their action range determinate the activity of the colony. In vespids, which are mostly predators, the foraging range of workers determines their maximum predation pressure round the nest. One of these species, Vespa velutina, a recently invasive species introduced into Europe, exerts a strong predation on honeybees at the hive. Therefore, the definition of its activity rhythm and spatial range of predation is of primary importance. Using radio frequency identification tags (RFID), two experiments were carried out to (a) determine their return ability (called homing) in releasing 318 individuals at different distance from their colony and (b) monitor their foraging activity rhythm and the duration of their flights based on 71 individuals followed 24 hr/24 during 2 months. The homing ability of V. velutina was evaluated to be up to 5,000 m and was not affected by the cardinal orientation of release point. The lag time to return to the nest increased with the distance of release. Most of the flight activity took place between 07:00 a.m. and 08:00 p.m., hornets doing principally short flights of less than an hour. Foraging range was thus estimated ca. 1,000 m around the nest. This study of V. velutina assisted by RFID tags provides for the first time a baseline for its potential foraging distance that increase our knowledge of this species to (a) refine more accurately models for risk assessment and (b) define security perimeter for early detection of predation on invasion front.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Poidatz

Monceau

Bonnard

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…, Klein et al. , Ollerton ). Nevertheless, evidence for these widely held views mostly comes from studies carried out at impoverished human‐managed ecosystems from mid‐latitude regions in western Europe and North America, and is mostly related to a subset of pollinators of immediate economic value, typically bees (Ghazoul , Winfree et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Complex long‐term dynamics of pollinator abundance in undisturbed Mediterranean montane habitats over two decades

Herrera

2018

Ecological Monographs

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Current notions of “pollinator decline” and “pollination crisis” mainly arose from studies on pollinators of economic value in anthropogenic ecosystems of mid‐latitude temperate regions. Comprehensive long‐term pollinator data from biologically diverse, undisturbed communities are needed to evaluate the actual extent of the so‐called “global pollination crisis.” This paper analyzes the long‐term dynamics of pollinator abundance in undisturbed Mediterranean montane habitats using pollinator visitation data for 65 plant species collected over two decades. Objectives are (1) to elucidate patterns of long‐term changes in pollinator abundance from the perspectives of individual plant species, major pollinator groups, and the whole plant community and (2) to propose a novel methodological implementation based on combining a planned missing data design with the analytical strength of mixed effects models, which allows one to draw community‐wide inferences on long‐term pollinator trends in species‐rich natural habitats. Probabilistic measurements (“patch visitation probability” and “flower visitation probability” per time unit) were used to assess pollinator functional abundance for each plant species on two separate, randomly chosen years. A total of 13,054 pollinator censuses accounting for a total watching effort of 2,877,039 flower‐min were carried out on 299 different dates. Supra‐annual unstability in pollinator functional abundance was the rule, with visitation probability to flowering patches and/or individual flowers exhibiting significant heterogeneity between years in the majority of plant species (83%). At the plant‐community level, there was a significant linear increase in pollinator functional abundance over the study period. Probability of pollinator visitation to flowering patches and individual flowers increased due to increasing visitation by small solitary bees and, to a lesser extent, small beetles. Visitation to different plant species exhibited contrasting changes, and insect orders and genera differed widely in sign and magnitude of linear abundance trends, thus exemplifying the complex dynamics of community‐wide changes in pollinator functional abundance. Results of this investigation indicate that pollinator declines are not universal beyond anthropogenic ecosystems; stress the need for considering broader ecological scenarios and comprehensive samples of plants and pollinators; and illustrate the crucial importance of combining ambitious sampling designs with powerful analytical schemes to draw reliable inferences on pollinator trends at the plant community level.

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“…The nectar and pollen rewards offered by floral resources change over time (Heinrich, ), and individuals must not only remember which flower species are currently rewarding, but also their location, how to handle different flower types, which inflorescences have just been visited, and where the nest is located (Chittka & Thomson, ; Gegear & Laverty, ; Heinrich, ). Consequently, numerous studies have set out to examine the effects of pesticides on cognitive traits (Klein, Cabirol, Devaud, Barron, & Lihoreau, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the impact of pesticides on learning and memory in bees

Siviter

Koricheva

Brown

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

145

127

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Most insecticides are insect neurotoxins. Evidence is emerging that sublethal doses of these neurotoxins are affecting the learning and memory of both wild and managed bee colonies, exacerbating the negative effects of pesticide exposure and reducing individual foraging efficiency.Variation in methodologies and interpretation of results across studies has precluded the quantitative evaluation of these impacts that is needed to make recommendations for policy change. It is not clear whether robust effects occur under acute exposure regimes (often argued to be more field‐realistic than the chronic regimes upon which many studies are based), for field‐realistic dosages, and for pesticides other than neonicotinoids.Here we use meta‐analysis to examine the impact of pesticides on bee performance in proboscis extension‐based learning assays, the paradigm most commonly used to assess learning and memory in bees. We draw together 104 (learning) and 167 (memory) estimated effect sizes across a diverse range of studies.We detected significant negative effects of pesticides on learning and memory (i) at field realistic dosages, (ii) under both chronic and acute application, and (iii) for both neonicotinoid and non‐neonicotinoid pesticides groups.We also expose key gaps in the literature that include a critical lack of studies on non‐Apis bees, on larval exposure (potentially one of the major exposure routes), and on performance in alternative learning paradigms. Policy implications. Procedures for the registration of new pesticides within EU member states now typically require assessment of risks to pollinators if potential target crops are attractive to bees. However, our results provide robust quantitative evidence for subtle, sublethal effects, the consequences of which are unlikely to be detected within small‐scale prelicensing laboratory or field trials, but can be critical when pesticides are used at a landscape scale. Our findings highlight the need for long‐term postlicensing environmental safety monitoring as a requirement within licensing policy for plant protection products.

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Why Bees Are So Vulnerable to Environmental Stressors

Cited by 206 publications

References 98 publications

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Complex long‐term dynamics of pollinator abundance in undisturbed Mediterranean montane habitats over two decades

Quantifying the impact of pesticides on learning and memory in bees

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