Ecology: Bumblebees and pesticides

@article{Osborne2012EcologyBA,
  title={Ecology: Bumblebees and pesticides},
  author={Juliet L. Osborne},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2012},
  volume={491},
  pages={43-45}
}
A study showing the effects of two pesticides on bumblebees highlights the need for risk assessments to consider multiple species and the complex chain of factors that determines insect exposure to chemicals. See Letter p.105 Exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides is known to influence bee behaviour, and could be a key factor in current bee declines. It has not been possible to establish a mechanistic link between individual and colony effects, but this study demonstrates a direct link between… Expand
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Chronic impairment of bumblebee natural foraging behaviour induced by sublethal pesticide exposure
TLDR
This is the first study to provide data on the impacts of combined and individual pesticide exposure on the temporal dynamics of foraging behaviour in the field over a prolonged period of time and shows that neonicotinoid exposure has both acute and chronic effects on overall foraging activity. Expand
Influence of combined pesticide and parasite exposure on bumblebee colony traits in the laboratory
TLDR
It is reiterated that dietary exposure to neonicotinoids can impact on bumblebee colony performance and fitness and stringently incorporating chronic and sublethal side effects of pesticides, as well as interactions with common natural stressors, such as prevalent parasites, should be considered in the corresponding test guidelines. Expand
Foraging bumblebees acquire a preference for neonicotinoid-treated food with prolonged exposure
TLDR
The increasing preference for consuming the neonicotinoid-treated food therefore increases the risk of exposure for the colony during prolonged pesticide exposure, highlighting the need to incorporate attractiveness of pesticides to foraging bees (and potentially other insect pollinators) in addition to simply considering the proportion of pesticide-contaminated floral resources within the foraging landscape. Expand
Effects of dietary lambda-cyhalothrin exposure on bumblebee survival, reproduction, and foraging behavior in laboratory and greenhouse
TLDR
The results demonstrated the pyrethroid lambda-cyhalothrin with a range of lethal and sublethal effects, both crucial for the development and survival of the B. terrestris colonies, supports the demand to test insecticide compounds on their safety, especially when the bees have to perform complex tasks such as foraging for their food. Expand
Investigating the impacts of field‐realistic exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide on bumblebee foraging, homing ability and colony growth
TLDR
It is shown that field‐realistic neonicotinoid exposure can have impacts on both foraging ability and homing success of bumblebees, with implications for the success of Bumblebee colonies in agricultural landscapes and their ability to deliver crucial pollination services. Expand
Pesticide Residues and Bees – A Risk Assessment
TLDR
Risks appear to be low, but analysis indicates that residues of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides pose the highest risk by contact exposure of bees with contaminated pollen, and the synergism of ergosterol inhibiting fungicides with those two classes of insecticides results in much higher risks in spite of the low prevalence of their combined residues. Expand
Impact of Chronic Neonicotinoid Exposure on Honeybee Colony Performance and Queen Supersedure
TLDR
Sublethal neonicotinoid exposure did not provoke increased winter losses, yet significant detrimental short and long-term impacts on colony performance and queen fate suggest that neonicsotinoids may contribute to colony weakening in a complex manner. Expand
Sublethal exposure to neonicotinoids and related side effects on insect pollinators: honeybees, bumblebees, and solitary bees
TLDR
It is shown that the lowest observed effect concentration under realistic field conditions in the most cases is higher than under laboratory conditions, which indicates that further long-term field research is required with consideration that good understanding of the pollinators’ responses to sublethal exposure should be taken into account in the future experimental design in order to establish vigorous conclusions. Expand
Pesticide risk assessment in free-ranging bees is weather and landscape dependent.
TLDR
It is shown that the sublethal effects of a neonicotinoid pesticide are modified in magnitude by environmental interactions specific to the landscape and time of exposure events. Expand
Ecological relevance in honeybee pesticide risk assessment: developing context-dependent scenarios to manage uncertainty
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The overestimation issue raised by Guez has already been addressed before and with an even greater magnitude of uncertainty, and the need to properly hierarchize uncertainties using conventional ecological scaling approaches and investigate context-dependent exposure scenarios is further underline. Expand
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