Wild bees flock to forested areas affected by severe fire

Date:  April 3, 2019

Source:  Oregon State University

A groundbreaking two-year study in southern Oregon found greater abundance and diversity of wild bees in areas that experienced moderate and severe forest fires compared to areas with low-severity fires.

The study, published today in the journal Ecosphere by researchers in the Oregon State University College of Forestry, is the first to demonstrate that wildfire severity is a strong predictor of bee diversity in mixed-conifer forest.

Bees are the most important among the Earth's pollinators, which combine for an estimated $100 billion in global economic impact each year. Oregon is home to more than 500 species of native bees.

Animal pollinators enhance the reproduction of nearly 90 percent of the Earth's flowering plants, including many food crops.

The pollinators are an essential component of insect and plant biodiversity. Bees are the standard bearer because they're usually present in the greatest numbers and because they're the only pollinator group that feeds exclusively on nectar and pollen their entire life.

Scientists led by OSU forest wildlife ecologist Jim Rivers in 2016 began trapping bees at 43 sites in forests burned by the 2013 Douglas Complex fire that scorched nearly 50,000 acres north of Grants Pass.

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Impact of urbanization on wild bees underestimated

Date:  March 6, 2019

Source:  University of Michigan

Wild bees are indispensable pollinators, supporting both agricultural productivity and the diversity of flowering plants worldwide.

But wild bees are experiencing widespread declines resulting from multiple interacting factors. A new University of Michigan-led study suggests that the effects of one of those factors -- urbanization -- may have been underestimated.

The study, led by a group of current and former U-M students and conducted at sites across southeast Michigan, looks at one aspect of this topic they say has received scant attention from bee researchers: the sex ratio of wild bees and how it changes across a rural-to-urban land-use gradient.

The team found that the sex ratio of wild bees became more male-dominated as urbanization increased, mainly driven by a decline in medium- and large-bodied ground-nesting female bees. The study, published March 6 in the journal Scientific Reports, is believed to be the first investigation of observed sex ratio in a complete wild bee community along a rural-to-urban gradient.

"These findings have potential implications on bee population health and pollination services, since male and female bees often have different pollination behaviors," said Paul Glaum, one of the study's first authors and a postdoctoral researcher in U-M's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

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Managed bees spread and intensify diseases in wild bees

Research shows wild bees are harmed even when managed bees are disease-free

Date:  November 5, 2015

Source:  University of California - Riverside

For various reasons, wild pollinators are in decline across many parts of the world. To combat this, managed honey bees and bumblebees are frequently shipped in to provide valuable pollination services to crops. But does this practice pose any risk to the wild bees?

An entomologist at the University of California, Riverside has examined the evidence by analyzing the large body of research done in this area to come to the conclusion that managed bees are spreading diseases to wild bees.

"Even in cases when the managed bees do not have a disease, they still stress local wild bees, making them more susceptible to disease," said Peter Graystock, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Entomology and the lead author of a paper published online last week in the International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife.

The work is a review of a vast amount of research in this area, incorporating studies that utilize advanced disease screening. It lists the problems managed bees cause and suggests avenues to limit further damage.

"The use of managed honeybees and bumblebees is linked with several cases of increased disease and population declines in wild bees," Graystock said. "This is shown in various countries around the world and is not always because the managed bees are carrying a disease. Loss of wild pollinators will ultimately either reduce crop yields or increase the reliance on and cost of shipping in more managed bees. This increased cost will cascade down to consumers, raising the price of food we put on our tables."

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Nearly one in 10 of Europe's wild bee species face extinction, says study

First ever assessment of all Europe’s 1,965 bee species finds them in dramatic decline, with intensive farming, insecticide use and climate change blamed

Arthur Neslen in Brussels

Thursday 19 March 2015 12.41 GMTLast modified on Thursday 19 March 201515.45 GMT

Europe’s wild bee population is in dramatic decline with nearly one in 10 species facing the threat of extinction, according to the first ever assessment of all the continent’s nearly 2,000 bee species.

Another 5.2% of bee species are likely to be threatened in the near future, while more than a quarter of species such as the European bumblebees are at risk of dying out, said the study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Population trends for 79% of the continent’s pollinators – mostly wild honeybees – are still unknown, but over a third of bee populations for which data was collected were shown to be in decline.

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New threats to wild bees identified

4th March 2015

By Helen BriggsEnvironment Correspondent, BBC News

Wild bumblebees are infected with many of the diseases found in honeybees looked after by bee keepers, according to a national survey.

With wild bees already under threat from habitat loss and pesticides, diseases could have a profound impact on populations, say scientists.

In Britain, bumblebee species are declining, and two have become extinct.

Conservation groups are calling for tougher regulations on importing bees for commercial use.

Researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London, collected hundreds of free flying honeybees and wild bumblebees in 26 areas of England, Wales and Scotland.

Analysis revealed that five common viruses which cause disease in honeybees are circulating in bumblebees.

More needs to be done to protect both wild bees and commercial honeybees, said a team led by Prof Mark Brown of the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London.

"Our findings reveal the widespread prevalence in wild bee populations of multiple RNA viruses previously associated with honeybees," the researchers report in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

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Urban habitats 'provide haven' for bees

By Helen Briggs

Environment Correspondent

Britain's urban areas are home to more types of wild bee than farmland, a study has found.

Flowers planted in gardens and allotments provide a valuable food source for bees across the year, according to research.

Scientists counted honey bees, bumble bees and other pollinating insects, in and around some of the UK's largest towns and cities.

Urban habitats can provide a valuable role in bee conservation, they say.

Honey bees, bumble bees and other insects that pollinate plants are under threat from habitat loss, pesticides and diseases.

But new research suggests that bees and other pollinating insects thrive as well in towns and cities as they do in farms and nature reserves.

A team led by Dr Katherine Baldock of the University of Bristol said urban landscapes - making up 7% of the UK - deserve more attention in the drive to protect bees from decline.

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Urban areas are hives for wild bees

23 August 2014 Last updated at 00:31

By Mark Kinver

Environment reporter, BBC News

A study has found a "considerable richness" of wild bee species in most types of urban habitats.

French researchers recorded almost a third of the nation's 900 species of wild bees living in towns and cities.

Writing in Plos One, they added that 60 species were also found in very urbanised areas in the city of Lyon.

There is widespread concern that wild bee populations in rural areas are being adversely affected by a number of factors, including pesticides.

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Attracting wild bees to farms is good insurance policy

Date:

April 3, 2014

Source:

Michigan State University

Summary:

Investing in habitat that attracts and supports wild bees in farms is not only an effective approach to helping enhance crop pollination, but it can also pay for itself in four years or less, according to research. The paper gives farmers of pollination-dependent crops tangible results to convert marginal acreage to fields of wildflowers.

Continued