Recent and future declines of a historically widespread pollinator linked to climate, land cover, and pesticides.

The acute decline in global biodiversity includes not only the loss of rare species, but also the rapid collapse of common species across many different taxa. The loss of pollinating insects is of particular concern because of the ecological and economic values these species provide. The western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis) was once common in western North America, but this species has become increasingly rare through much of its range. To understand potential mechanisms driving these declines, we used Bayesian occupancy models to investigate the effects of climate and land cover from 1998 to 2020, pesticide use from 2008 to 2014, and projected expected occupancy under three future scenarios. Using 14,457 surveys across 2.8 million km2 in the western United States, we found strong negative relationships between increasing temperature and drought on occupancy and identified neonicotinoids as the pesticides of greatest negative influence across our study region. The mean predicted occupancy declined by 57% from 1998 to 2020, ranging from 15 to 83% declines across 16 ecoregions. Even under the most optimistic scenario, we found continued declines in nearly half of the ecoregions by the 2050s and mean declines of 93% under the most severe scenario across all ecoregions. This assessment underscores the tenuous future of B. occidentalis and demonstrates the scale of stressors likely contributing to rapid loss of related pollinator species throughout the globe. Scaled-up, international species-monitoring schemes and improved integration of data from formal surveys and community science will substantively improve the understanding of stressors and bumble bee population trends.

Climate change winners and losers among North American bumblebees.

Mounting evidence suggests that climate change, agricultural intensification and disease are impacting bumblebee health and contributing to species' declines. Identifying how these factors impact insect communities at large spatial and temporal scales is difficult, partly because species may respond in different ways. Further, the necessary data must span large spatial and temporal scales, which usually means they comprise aggregated, presence-only records collected using numerous methods (e.g. diversity surveys, educational collections, citizen-science projects, standardized ecological surveys). Here, we use occupancy models, which explicitly correct for biases in the species observation process, to quantify the effect of changes in temperature, precipitation and floral resources on bumblebee site occupancy over the past 12 decades in North America. We find no evidence of genus-wide declines in site occupancy, but do find that occupancy is strongly related to temperature, and is only weakly related to precipitation or floral resources. We also find that more species are likely to be climate change 'losers' than 'winners' and that this effect is primarily associated with changing temperature. Importantly, all trends were highly species-specific, highlighting that genus or community-wide measures may not reflect diverse species-specific patterns that are critical in guiding allocation of conservation resources.

A contemporary survey of bumble bee diversity across the state of California.

Bumble bees (genus Bombus) are important pollinators with more than 260 species found worldwide, many of which are in decline. Twenty-five species occur in California with the highest species abundance and diversity found in coastal, northern, and montane regions. No recent studies have examined California bumble bee diversity across large spatial scales nor explored contemporary community composition patterns across the state. To fill these gaps, we collected 1740 bumble bee individuals, representing 17 species from 17 sites (~100 bees per site) in California, using an assemblage monitoring framework. This framework is intended to provide an accurate estimate of relative abundance of more common species without negatively impacting populations through overcollection. Our sites were distributed across six ecoregions, with an emphasis on those that historically hosted high bumble bee diversity. We compared bumble bee composition among these sites to provide a snapshot of California bumble bee biodiversity in a single year. Overall, the assemblage monitoring framework that we employed successfully captured estimated relative abundance of species for most sites, but not all. This shortcoming suggests that bumble bee biodiversity monitoring in California might require multiple monitoring approaches, including greater depth of sampling in some regions, given the variable patterns in bumble bee abundance and richness throughout the state. Our study sheds light on the current status of bumble bee diversity in California, identifies some areas where greater sampling effort and conservation action should be focused in the future, and performs the first assessment of an assembly monitoring framework for bumble bee communities in the state.

A field spray drift study to determine the downwind effects of isoxaflutole herbicide to nontarget plants.

Spray drift buffers are often required on herbicide labels to prevent potential drift effects to nontarget plants. Buffers are typically derived by determining the distance at which predicted exposure from spray drift equals the ecotoxicology threshold for sensitive plant species determined in greenhouse tests. Field studies performed under realistic conditions have demonstrated, however, that this approach is far more conservative than necessary. In 2016, the US Environmental Protection Agency estimated that isoxaflutole (IFT), a herbicide used to control grass and broadleaf weeds, could adversely affect downwind nontarget dicot plants at distances of ≥304 m from the edge of the treated field due to spray drift. This prediction implies that a buffer of at least 304 m is required to protect nontarget plants. To refine the predicted buffer distance for IFT, we conducted a field study in which sensitive nontarget plants (lettuce and navy bean, two to four leaf stage) were placed at various distances downwind from previously harvested soybean fields sprayed with Balance® Flexx Herbicide. The test plants were then transported to a greenhouse for grow out following the standard vegetative vigor test protocol. There were three trials. One had vegetation in the downwind deposition area (i.e., test plants placed in mowed grass; typical exposure scenario) and two had bare ground deposition areas (worst-case exposure scenario). For both plant species in bare ground deposition areas, effects on shoot height and weight were observed at 1.52 m but not at downwind distances of ≥9.14 m from the edge of the treated area. No effects were observed at any distance for plants placed in the vegetated deposition area. The field study demonstrated that a buffer of 9.14 m protects nontarget terrestrial plants exposed to IFT via spray drift even under worst-case conditions. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:757-769. © 2021 Bayer. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Seasonal Variation in Host Plant Chemistry Drives Sequestration in a Specialist Caterpillar.

Sequestration of plant secondary metabolites by herbivores can vary across both host plant phenology and herbivore ontogeny, but few studies have explored how they concurrently change in the field. We explored variation in iridoid glycoside concentration and composition in white turtlehead, Chelone glabra, as well as sequestration of iridoid glycosides by its specialist herbivore, the Baltimore checkerspot, Euphydryas phaeton, across the development of both herbivore and host plant. In 2012 we sampled plants to describe seasonal variation in the concentrations of two iridoid glycosides, aucubin and catalpol. In 2017, we sampled both host plants and caterpillars over an entire growing season and explored the relationship between plant chemistry and herbivore sequestration. We also compared iridoid glycoside concentrations of plants with and without herbivory to gain insight into whether levels of secondary compounds were impacted by herbivory. We found that total plant iridoid glycosides varied across the season and that total sequestered iridoid glycosides in caterpillars closely mirrored concentration patterns in plants. However, the magnitude of sequestration by caterpillars ranged from 2 to 20 times the concentrations in host plants, with different proportions of aucubin and catalpol. In addition, plants with herbivory had lower iridoid glycoside concentrations than plants without herbivory, although this difference changed over time. These results suggest that while variation in host plant secondary metabolites may be a dominant factor driving sequestration, other ecological factors may mitigate the relationship between host plant chemistry and herbivore sequestration.

Probabilistic co-occurrence assessment for suites of listed species.

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act requires the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to consult with the Services (US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service) over potential pesticide impacts on federally listed species. Consultation is complicated by the large number of pesticide products and listed species, as well as by lack of consensus on best practices for conducting co-occurrence analyses. Previous work demonstrates that probabilistic estimates of species' ranges and pesticide use patterns improve these analyses. Here we demonstrate that such estimates can be made for suites of sympatric listed species. Focusing on two watersheds, one in Iowa and the other in Mississippi, we obtained distribution records for 13 species of terrestrial and aquatic listed plants and animals occurring therein. We used maximum entropy modeling and bioclimatic, topographic, hydrographic, and land cover variables to predict species' ranges at high spatial resolution. We constructed probabilistic spatial models of use areas for two pesticides based on the US Department of Agriculture Cropland Data Layer and reduced classification errors by incorporating information on the relationships between individual pixels and their neighbors using object-based images analysis. We then combined species distribution and crop footprint models to derive overall probability of co-occurrence of listed species and pesticide use. For aquatic species, we also integrated an estimate of downstream residue transport. We report each separate species-by-use-area co-occurrence estimate and also combine these modeled co-occurrence probabilities across species within watersheds to produce an overall metric of potential pesticide exposure risk for these listed species at the watershed level. We propose that the consultation process between US EPA and the Services be based on such batched estimation of probabilistic co-occurrence for multiple listed species at a regional scale. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:1088-1100. © 2021 SETAC.

Genotype-specific effects of ericoid mycorrhizae on floral traits and reproduction in Vaccinium corymbosum.

PREMISE: Most plants interact with mycorrhizal fungi and animal pollinators simultaneously. Yet, whether mycorrhizae affect traits important to pollination remains poorly understood and may depend on the match between host and fungal genotypes. Here, we examined how ericoid mycorrhizal fungi affected flowering phenology, floral traits, and reproductive success, among eight genotypes of highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum (Ericaceae). We asked three overarching questions: (1) Do genotypes differ in response to inoculation? (2) How does inoculation affect floral and flowering traits? (3) Are inoculated plants more attractive to pollinators and less pollen limited than non-inoculated plants of the same genotype? METHODS: To examine these questions, we experimentally inoculated plants with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, grew the plants in the field, and measured flowering and floral traits over 2 years. In year 2, we conducted a hand-pollination experiment to test whether plants differed in pollen limitation. RESULTS: Inoculated plants had significantly higher levels of colonization for some genotypes, and there were significant floral trait changes in inoculated plants for some genotypes as well. On average, inoculated plants produced significantly larger floral displays, more fruits per inflorescence, and heavier fruits with lower sugar content, than non-inoculated, control plants. Hand pollination enhanced the production of fruits, and fruit mass, for non-inoculated plants but not for those that were inoculated. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that inoculation with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi enhanced flowering and altered investment in reproduction in genotype-specific ways. These findings underscore the importance of examining belowground symbionts and genotype-specific responses in their hosts to fully understand the drivers of aboveground interactions.

The arctic and alpine bumblebees of the subgenus Alpinobombus revised from integrative assessment of species' gene coalescents and morphology (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombus).

The bumblebees of the subgenus Alpinobombus of the genus Bombus are unusual among bees for specialising in many of the most northerly vegetated arctic habitats on Earth. Most named taxa in this group (37 available names from a total of 67 names) were described originally from differences in the colour patterns of the hair. Previous revisions have shown unusually little agreement, recognising a range of 6‒9 species, in part because of pronounced intraspecific variation in both skeletal morphology and in the colour patterns of the hair. Here we examine variation among 4622 specimens from throughout the group's global range. Bayesian inference of the gene tree for the fast evolving mitochondrial COI gene combined with Poisson-tree-process analysis of this tree shows support for 10 gene lineages as candidates for being putative species lineages. Integrative assessment shows that the interpretation of these results is not straightforward. Evidence from the fast evolving mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene supports two of the COI gene alleles (from the samples B. kluanensis s. str. and 'unnamed2') as being associated with just one 16S allele. Double COI bands on the PCR gels for these individuals and double peaks on sequence traces (in one case with both COI alleles sequenced from one individual) identifies this as a likely case of COI paralogy that has resulted in mitochondrial heteroplasmy. Evidence from morphology also supports only the remaining nine lineages as separate. Evidence from extracts of cephalic labial gland secretions (CLGS, with components believed to function as sex pheromones) reported by others shows small diagnostic differences between all of the candidate species examined (although B. kluanensis s. l. was not examined) and shows larger differences between all of the species pairs that we find are likely to have co-occurred at least in the past, revealing a likely limitation to the CLGS approach in cases of recent and continuously allopatric species. Consequently we infer nine species in the subgenus Alpinobombus (so that B. kluanensis s. str. and 'unnamed2' are interpreted as conspecific, as B. kluanensis s. l.). We provide distribution maps and identification keys for the nine species. The morphology of the male of B. kluanensis is described for the first time, including a unique, unusually dense pad of short hair on the mandible that may have a function involving CLGS in mate-searching behaviour. In seeking to identify the valid names for these species, seven new lectotypes are designated and support is provided for synonymizing 10 names as proposed in a recent summary table of names. The prevailing usage of Bombus balteatus Dahlbom is maintained as valid by proposing Bombus nivalis Dahlbom and Bombus tricolor Dahlbom as nomina oblita and by proposing Bombus balteatus Dahlbom as a nomen protectum. The prevailing usage of Bombus hyperboreus Schönherr is maintained as valid by supporting Apis arctica Quensel as a nomen oblitum and by supporting Bombus hyperboreus Schönherr as a nomen protectum. We then use sequence data from COI and 16S together with nuclear PEPCK and opsin genes to estimate dated phylogenetic relationships among the nine species, allowing for incongruent gene trees with *BEAST. If crown-group divergence within the subgenus Alpinobombus coincided with the global climate cooling and with the growth of the northern ice sheets at the end of the Miocene at ca 7.2 Ma, then divergences between each of the three pairs of sister species are likely to have coincided with fluctuations in vegetated land connections across the Bering Strait after ca 2.5 Ma.

A Probabilistic Co-Occurrence Approach for Estimating Likelihood of Spatial Overlap Between Listed Species Distribution and Pesticide Use Patterns.

Characterizing potential spatial overlap between federally threatened and endangered ("listed") species distributions and registered pesticide use patterns is important for accurate risk assessment of threatened and endangered species. Because accurate range information for such rare species is often limited and agricultural pesticide use patterns are dynamic, simple spatial co-occurrence methods may overestimate or underestimate overlap and result in decisions that benefit neither listed species nor the regulatory process. Here, we demonstrate a new method of co-occurrence analysis that employs probability theory to estimate spatial distribution of rare species populations and areas of pesticide use to determine the likelihood of potential exposure. Specifically, we 1) describe a probabilistic method to estimate pesticide use based on crop production patterns; 2) construct species distribution models for 2 listed insect species whose ranges were previously incompletely described, the rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) and the Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek); and 3) develop a probabilistic co-occurrence methodology and assessment framework. Using the principles of the Bayes' theorem, we constructed probabilistic spatial models of pesticide use areas by integrating information from land-cover spatial data, agriculture statistics, and remote-sensing data. We used maximum entropy methods to build species distribution models for 2 listed insects based on species collection and observation records and predictor variables relevant to the species' biogeography and natural history. We further developed novel methods for refinement of these models at spatial scales relevant to US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) regulatory priorities (e.g., critical habitat areas). Integrating both probabilistic assessments and focusing on USFWS priority management areas, we demonstrate that spatial overlap (i.e., potential for exposure) is not deterministic but instead a function of both species distribution and land use patterns. Our work serves as a framework to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of threatened and endangered species assessments using a data-driven likelihood analysis of species co-occurrence. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;00:1-12. © 2019 SETAC.

Home sick: impacts of migratory beekeeping on honey bee (Apis mellifera) pests, pathogens, and colony size.

Honey bees are important pollinators of agricultural crops and the dramatic losses of honey bee colonies have risen to a level of international concern. Potential contributors to such losses include pesticide exposure, lack of floral resources and parasites and pathogens. The damaging effects of all of these may be exacerbated by apicultural practices. To meet the pollination demand of US crops, bees are transported to areas of high pollination demand throughout the year. Compared to stationary colonies, risk of parasitism and infectious disease may be greater for migratory bees than those that remain in a single location, although this has not been experimentally established. Here, we conducted a manipulative experiment to test whether viral pathogen and parasite loads increase as a result of colonies being transported for pollination of a major US crop, California almonds. We also tested if they subsequently transmit those diseases to stationary colonies upon return to their home apiaries. Colonies started with equivalent numbers of bees, however migratory colonies returned with fewer bees compared to stationary colonies and this difference remained one month later. Migratory colonies returned with higher black queen cell virus loads than stationary colonies, but loads were similar between groups one month later. Colonies exposed to migratory bees experienced a greater increase of deformed wing virus prevalence and load compared to the isolated group. The three groups had similar infestations of Varroa mites upon return of the migratory colonies. However, one month later, mite loads in migratory colonies were significantly lower compared to the other groups, possibly because of lower number of host bees. Our study demonstrates that migratory pollination practices has varying health effects for honey bee colonies. Further research is necessary to clarify how migratory pollination practices influence the disease dynamics of honey bee diseases we describe here.

The behavioral ecology of nectar robbing: why be tactic constant?

How do animals forage for variable food resources? For animals foraging at flowers, floral constancy has provided a framework for understanding why organisms visit some flowers while bypassing others. We extend this framework to the flower-handling tactics that visitors employ. Nectar robbers remove nectar through holes bitten in flowers, often without pollinating. Many foragers can switch between robbing and visiting flowers legitimately to gain access to nectar. We document that even though individuals can switch foraging tactics, they often do not. We explore whether individuals exhibit constancy to either robbing or visiting legitimately, which we term tactic constancy. We then extend hypotheses of floral constancy to understand when and why visitors exhibit tactic constancy and raise questions for future research.

Disaggregating the evidence linking biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services (ES) are an increasingly popular policy framework for connecting biodiversity with human well-being. These efforts typically assume that biodiversity and ES covary, but the relationship between them remains remarkably unclear. Here we analyse >500 recent papers and show that reported relationships differ among ES, methods of measuring biodiversity and ES, and three different approaches to linking them (spatial correlations, management comparisons and functional experiments). For spatial correlations, biodiversity relates more strongly to measures of ES supply than to resulting human benefits. For management comparisons, biodiversity of 'service providers' predicts ES more often than biodiversity of functionally unrelated taxa, but the opposite is true for spatial correlations. Functional experiments occur at smaller spatial scales than management and spatial studies, which show contrasting responses to scale. Our results illuminate the varying dynamics relating biodiversity to ES, and show the importance of matching management efforts to the most relevant scientific evidence.

Nectar chemistry mediates the behavior of parasitized bees: consequences for plant fitness.

Plants produce an array of secondary metabolites that play important ecological roles as anti-herbivore and anti-pathogen defenses. Many herbivores experience physiological costs when they consume secondary metabolites, yet some also benefit, for example when these chemicals confer resistance to parasites and predators. Secondary metabolites are often present in nectar and pollen, which is paradoxical given that floral rewards are important in the attraction of mutualists rather than deterrence of antagonists. Motivated by studies of interactions among plants, herbivores, and parasites, as well as research showing that secondary metabolites can reduce bee disease, we characterized the occurrence of two iridoid glycosides, aucubin and catalpol, in floral rewards and other tissues of the bee pollinated plant, Chelone glabra. We then experimentally investigated effects of nectar iridoid glycoside concentrations on the foraging behavior of bumble bee pollinators naturally afflicted by a parasitoid fly and a protozoan intestinal parasite, and subsequent effects on an estimate of plant reproduction. We found that floral nectar had lower iridoid glycoside concentrations than leaves, pollen, and corollas, and that, compared to those plant parts, the relative ratio of the two primary iridoid glycosides, aucubin and catalpol, was reversed in nectar. Whether bees carried parasitoid fly larvae did not affect their response to nectar chemistry; however, there was a significant interaction between protozoan parasite infection and nectar treatment, with infected bees foraging longer at flowers with high compared to low nectar iridoid glycoside concentrations. Parasitized bees were also more likely to return to inflorescences with high iridoid glycoside nectar. Consequently, flowers in the high iridoid glycoside nectar treatment donated significantly more pollen to conspecific stigmas than did flowers in the low iridoid glycoside treatment, suggesting an increase in male plant fitness. Taken together, these results demonstrate that nectar secondary metabolites can mediate the behavior of pollinators with subsequent benefits for estimates of plant reproduction.

Genes Suggest Ancestral Colour Polymorphisms Are Shared across Morphologically Cryptic Species in Arctic Bumblebees.

Our grasp of biodiversity is fine-tuned through the process of revisionary taxonomy. If species do exist in nature and can be discovered with available techniques, then we expect these revisions to converge on broadly shared interpretations of species. But for the primarily arctic bumblebees of the subgenus Alpinobombus of the genus Bombus, revisions by some of the most experienced specialists are unusual for bumblebees in that they have all reached different conclusions on the number of species present. Recent revisions based on skeletal morphology have concluded that there are from four to six species, while variation in colour pattern of the hair raised questions as to whether at least seven species might be present. Even more species are supported if we accept the recent move away from viewing species as morphotypes to viewing them instead as evolutionarily independent lineages (EILs) using data from genes. EILs are recognised here in practice from the gene coalescents that provide direct evidence for their evolutionary independence. We show from fitting both general mixed Yule/coalescent (GMYC) models and Poisson-tree-process (PTP) models to data for the mitochondrial COI gene that there is support for nine species in the subgenus Alpinobombus. Examination of the more slowly evolving nuclear PEPCK gene shows further support for a previously unrecognised taxon as a new species in northwestern North America. The three pairs of the most morphologically similar sister species are separated allopatrically and prevented from interbreeding by oceans. We also find that most of the species show multiple shared colour patterns, giving the appearance of mimicry among parts of the different species. However, reconstructing ancestral colour-pattern states shows that speciation is likely to have cut across widespread ancestral polymorphisms, without or largely without convergence. In the particular case of Alpinobombus, morphological, colour-pattern, and genetic groups show little agreement, which may help to explain the lack of agreement among previous taxonomic revisions.

CLIMATE CHANGE. Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents.

For many species, geographical ranges are expanding toward the poles in response to climate change, while remaining stable along range edges nearest the equator. Using long-term observations across Europe and North America over 110 years, we tested for climate change-related range shifts in bumblebee species across the full extents of their latitudinal and thermal limits and movements along elevation gradients. We found cross-continentally consistent trends in failures to track warming through time at species' northern range limits, range losses from southern range limits, and shifts to higher elevations among southern species. These effects are independent of changing land uses or pesticide applications and underscore the need to test for climate impacts at both leading and trailing latitudinal and thermal limits for species.

Secondary metabolites in floral nectar reduce parasite infections in bumblebees.

The synthesis of secondary metabolites is a hallmark of plant defence against herbivores. These compounds may be detrimental to consumers, but can also protect herbivores against parasites. Floral nectar commonly contains secondary metabolites, but little is known about the impacts of nectar chemistry on pollinators, including bees. We hypothesized that nectar secondary metabolites could reduce bee parasite infection. We inoculated individual bumblebees with Crithidia bombi, an intestinal parasite, and tested effects of eight naturally occurring nectar chemicals on parasite population growth. Secondary metabolites strongly reduced parasite load, with significant effects of alkaloids, terpenoids and iridoid glycosides ranging from 61 to 81%. Using microcolonies, we also investigated costs and benefits of consuming anabasine, the compound with the strongest effect on parasites, in infected and uninfected bees. Anabasine increased time to egg laying, and Crithidia reduced bee survival. However, anabasine consumption did not mitigate the negative effects of Crithidia, and Crithidia infection did not alter anabasine consumption. Our novel results highlight that although secondary metabolites may not rescue survival in infected bees, they may play a vital role in mediating Crithidia transmission within and between colonies by reducing Crithidia infection intensities.

Secondary compounds in floral rewards of toxic rangeland plants: impacts on pollinators.

The study of plant secondary chemistry has been essential in understanding plant consumption by herbivores. There is growing evidence that secondary compounds also occur in floral rewards, including nectar and pollen. Many pollinators are generalist nectar and pollen foragers and thus are exposed to an array of secondary compounds in their diet. This review documents secondary compounds in the nectar or pollen of poisonous rangeland plants of the western United States and the effects of these compounds on the behavior, performance, and survival of pollinators. Furthermore, the biochemical, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms by which pollinators cope with secondary compound consumption are discussed, drawing parallels between pollinators and herbivores. Finally, three avenues of future research on floral reward chemistry are proposed. Given that the majority of flowering plants require animals for pollination, understanding how floral reward chemistry affects pollinators has implications for plant reproduction in agricultural and rangeland habitats.