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Supplemental forage ameliorates the negative impact of insecticides on bumblebees in a pollinator-dependent crop
- Source :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Insecticide use and insufficient forage are two of the leading stressors to pollinators in agroecosystems. While these factors have been well studied individually, the experimental designs do not reflect real-world conditions where insecticide exposure and lack of forage occur simultaneously and could interactively suppress pollinator health. Using outdoor enclosures, we tested the effects of insecticides (imidacloprid + lambda-cyhalothrin) and non-crop forage (clover) in a factorial design, measuring the survival, behaviour and performance of bumblebees ( Bombus impatiens ), as well as pollination of the focal crop, watermelon. Colony survival was synergistically reduced to 17% in watermelon alone + insecticides (survival was 100% in all other treatments). However, behavioural shifts in foraging were mainly owing to insecticides (e.g. 95% reduced visitation rate to watermelon flowers), while impacts on hive performance were primarily driven by clover presence (e.g. 374% increase in the number of live eggs). Insecticide-mediated reductions in foraging decreased crop pollination (fruit set) by 32%. Altogether, these data indicate that both insecticides and non-crop forage play integral roles in shaping pollinator health in agricultural landscapes, but the relative importance and interaction of these two factors depend on which aspect of ‘health’ is being considered.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Agroecosystem
Insecticides
Pollination
agroecosystem
Foraging
pollinator health
Forage
Flowers
Biology
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Bombus impatiens
Crop
crop pollination
03 medical and health sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
Pollinator
Imidacloprid
herbicide
Animals
Research Articles
030304 developmental biology
General Environmental Science
0303 health sciences
General Immunology and Microbiology
Ecology
insecticide
food and beverages
Agriculture
General Medicine
Bees
biology.organism_classification
Agronomy
chemistry
Fruit
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14712954
- Volume :
- 288
- Issue :
- 1953
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings. Biological sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c5dce576db553d42bfe30984aa74e863