More Like this

1. Crop production in the USA is frequently limited by a lack of pollinators

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0922  

   Reilly, J. R. ; Artz, D. R. ; Biddinger, D. ; Bobiwash, K. ; Boyle, N. K. ; Brittain, C. ; Brokaw, J. ; Campbell, J. W. ; Daniels, J. ; Elle, E. ; et al ( July 2020 , Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Most of the world's crops depend on pollinators, so declines in both managed and wild bees raise concerns about food security. However, the degree to which insect pollination is actually limiting current crop production is poorly understood, as is the role of wild species (as opposed to managed honeybees) in pollinating crops, particularly in intensive production areas. We established a nationwide study to assess the extent of pollinator limitation in seven crops at 131 locations situated across major crop-producing areas of the USA. We found that five out of seven crops showed evidence of pollinator limitation. Wild bees and honeybees provided comparable amounts of pollination for most crops, even in agriculturally intensive regions. We estimated the nationwide annual production value of wild pollinators to the seven crops we studied at over $1.5 billion; the value of wild bee pollination of all pollinator-dependent crops would be much greater. Our findings show that pollinator declines could translate directly into decreased yields or production for most of the crops studied, and that wild species contribute substantially to pollination of most study crops in major crop-producing regions. 

   more » « less
2. Genomic Signatures of Honey Bee Association in an Acetic Acid Symbiont

   https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaa183  

   Smith, Eric A ; Newton, Irene L ( October 2020 , Genome Biology and Evolution)

   Daniel, Sloan (Ed.)

   Abstract Recent declines in the health of the honey bee have startled researchers and lay people alike as honey bees are agriculture’s most important pollinator. Honey bees are important pollinators of many major crops and add billions of dollars annually to the US economy through their services. One factor that may influence colony health is the microbial community. Indeed, the honey bee worker digestive tract harbors a characteristic community of bee-specific microbes, and the composition of this community is known to impact honey bee health. However, the honey bee is a superorganism, a colony of eusocial insects with overlapping generations where nestmates cooperate, building a hive, gathering and storing food, and raising brood. In contrast to what is known regarding the honey bee worker gut microbiome, less is known of the microbes associated with developing brood, with food stores, and with the rest of the built hive environment. More recently, the microbe Bombella apis was identified as associated with nectar, with developing larvae, and with honey bee queens. This bacterium is related to flower-associated microbes such as Saccharibacter floricola and other species in the genus Saccharibacter, and initial phylogenetic analyses placed it as sister to these environmental bacteria. Here, we used comparative genomics of multiple honey bee-associated strains and the nectar-associated Saccharibacter to identify genomic changes that may be associated with the ecological transition to honey bee association. We identified several genomic differences in the honey bee-associated strains, including a complete CRISPR/Cas system. Many of the changes we note here are predicted to confer upon Bombella the ability to survive in royal jelly and defend themselves against mobile elements, including phages. Our results are a first step toward identifying potential function of this microbe in the honey bee superorganism. 

   more » « less
3. Biotic and abiotic drivers of plant–pollinator community assembly across wildfire gradients

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13530  

   LaManna, Joseph A. ; Burkle, Laura A. ; Belote, R. Travis ; Myers, Jonathan A. ; Bartomeus, ed., Ignasi ( November 2020 , Journal of Ecology)

   Understanding how abiotic disturbance and biotic interactions determine pollinator and flowering‐plant diversity is critically important given global climate change and widespread pollinator declines. To predict responses of pollinators and flowering‐plant communities to changes in wildfire disturbance, a mechanistic understanding of how these two trophic levels respond to wildfire severity is needed.

   We compared site‐to‐site variation in community composition (β‐diversity), species richness and abundances of pollinators and flowering plants among landscapes with no recent wildfire (unburned), mixed‐severity wildfire and high‐severity wildfire in three sites across the Northern Rockies Ecoregion, USA. We used variation partitioning to assess the relative contributions of wildfire, other abiotic variables (climate, soils and topography) and biotic associations among plant and pollinator composition to community assembly of both trophic levels.

   Wildfire disturbance generally increased species richness and total abundance, but decreasedβ‐diversity, of both pollinators and flowering plants. However, reductions inβ‐diversity from wildfire appeared to result from increased abundances following fires, resulting in higher local species richness of pollinators and flowers in burned than unburned landscapes. After accounting for differences in abundance, standardized effect sizes ofβ‐diversity were higher in burned than unburned landscapes, suggesting that wildfire enhances non‐random assortment of pollinator and flowering‐plant species among local communities.

   Wildfire disturbance mediated the relative importance of mutualistic associations toβ‐diversity of pollinators and flowering plants. The influence of pollinatorβ‐diversity on flowering‐plantβ‐diversity increased with wildfire severity, whereas the influence of flowering‐plantβ‐diversity on pollinatorβ‐diversity was greater in mixed‐severity than high‐severity wildfire or unburned landscapes. Moreover, biotic associations among pollinator and plant species explained substantial variation inβ‐diversity of both trophic levels beyond what could be explained by wildfire and all other abiotic and spatial factors combined.

   Synthesis. Wildfire disturbance and plant–pollinator interactions both strongly influenced the assembly of pollinator and flowering‐plant communities at local and regional scales. However, biotic interactions were generally more important drivers of community assembly in disturbed than undisturbed landscapes. As wildfire regimes continue to change globally, predicting its effects on biodiversity will require a deeper understanding of the ecological processes that mediate biotic interactions among linked trophic levels.

    

   more » « less
4. Potential regional declines in species richness of tomato pollinators in North America under climate change

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2259  

   Carrasco, Luis ; Papeş, Monica ; Lochner, Ellie N. ; Ruiz, Brandyn C. ; Williams, Abigail G. ; Wiggins, Gregory J. ( November 2020 , Ecological Applications)

   About 70% of the world's main crops depend on insect pollination. Climate change is already affecting the abundance and distribution of insects, which could cause geographical mismatches between crops and their pollinators. Crops that rely primarily on wild pollinators (e.g., crops that cannot be effectively pollinated by commercial colonies of honey bees) could be particularly in jeopardy. However, limited information on plant–pollinator associations and pollinator distributions complicate the assessment of climate change impacts on specific crops. To study the potential impacts of climate change on pollination of a specific crop in North America, we use the case of open‐field tomato crops, which rely on buzz pollinators (species that use vibration to release pollen, such as bumble bees) to increase their production. We aimed to (1) assess potential changes in buzz pollinator distribution and richness, and (2) evaluate the overlap between areas with high densities of tomato crops and high potential decrease in richness. We used baseline (1961–1990) climate and future (2050s and 2080s) climatic projections in ecological niche models fitted with occurrences of wild bees, documented in the literature as pollinators of tomatoes, to estimate the baseline and future potential distribution of suitable climatic conditions of targeted species and to create maps of richness change across North America. We obtained reliable models for 15 species and found important potential decreases in the distribution of some pollinators (e.g.,Lasioglossum pectoraleandAugochlorella aurata). We observed geographical discrepancies in the projected change in species richness across North America, detecting important declines in the eastern United States (up to 11 species decrease for 2050s). After overlapping the maps of species richness change with a tomato crop map for the United States, we found spatial correspondence between richness declines and areas with high concentration of tomato crops. Disparities in the effects of climate change on the potential future distribution of different wild pollinators and geographical variation in richness highlight the importance of crop‐specific studies. Our study also emphasizes the challenges of compiling and modeling crop‐specific pollinator data and the need to improve our understanding of current distribution of pollinators and their community dynamics under climate change.

    

   more » « less
5. Community context mediates effects of pollinator loss on seed production

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4569  

   Arrowsmith, K. C. ; Reynolds, Victoria A. ; Briggs, Heather M. ; Brosi, Berry J. ( June 2023 , Ecosphere)

   A critical goal for ecologists is understanding how ongoing local and global species losses will affect ecosystem functions and services. Diversity–functioning relationships, which are well‐characterized in primary producer communities, are much less consistently predictable for ecosystem functions involving two or more trophic levels, particularly in situations where multiple species in one trophic level impact functional outcomes at another trophic level. This is particularly relevant to pollination functioning, given ongoing pollinator declines and the value of understanding pollination functioning for single plant species like crops or threatened plants. We used spatially replicated, controlled single‐pollinator‐species removal experiments to assess how changes in bumble bee species richness impacted the production of fertilized seeds in a perennial herb—Delphinium barbeyi—in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA. To improve predictability, we also assessed how traits and abundances in the plant and bumble bee communities were related toD. barbeyireproductive success. We hypothesized that trait‐matching between pollinator proboscis length andD. barbeyi's nectar spurs would produce a greater number of fertilized seeds, while morphological similarity within the floral community would dilute pollination services. We found that the effects of pollinator removal differed depending on the behavioral patterns of pollinators and compositional features of the plant and pollinator communities. While pollinator floral fidelity generally increasedD. barbeyiseed production, that positive effect was primarily evident when more than half of theBombuscommunity was experimentally removed. Similarly, communities comprising primarily long‐tongued bees were most beneficial toD. barbeyiseed production in tandem with a strong removal. Finally, we observed contrasting effects of morphological similarity in the plant community, with evidence of both competition and facilitation among plants. These results offer an example of the complex dynamics underlying ecosystem function in multitrophic systems and demonstrate that community context can impact diversity–functioning relationships between trophic levels.

    

   more » « less