Pesticide reduces bumblebee colony initiation and increases probability of population extinction, a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution sounds a dire warning that a major neonicotinoid found in crops around the world, thiamethoxam, is bad news for bumblebees.
At the Toronto Star, Liam Casey reports in Bumblebees at risk of extinction after exposure to pesticide, Ontario study says:
A widely used pesticide is placing bumblebee populations at an increased risk of extinction, a new study from an Ontario researcher suggests.
Nigel Raine, an environmental science professor at the University of Guelph, discovered that thiamethoxam, a major neonicotinoid found in agricultural crops throughout the world, reduced the chances of bumblebee queens starting new colonies by more than a quarter.
The results were published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
“Bumblebee queens that were exposed to the pesticide were 26 per cent less likely to lay eggs to start a colony,” Raine said of the research conducted in his lab with researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London.
“It was a bigger impact than I was expecting. And our modelling suggests it could have a major impact on population persistence and increases the chances a population could go extinct.” . . .
Bees are crucial to agriculture. Published reports suggest about a third of the crops eaten by humans depend on insect pollination, with bees responsible for about 80 per cent of that figure.
But bee populations are declining worldwide as scientists try to figure out why. Research has suggested the use of neonicotinoids is among the factors contributing to the declines.
Ontario has taken the lead in North America by placing restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids, while Europe has imposed a moratorium on their use.
Recent research by York University showed neonicotinoids had spilled over from crops such as soy and corn in Ontario and Quebec into plants and wildflowers such as maple trees, dandelions and clover. . . .
Read the rest at the Star--and the study itself here.
Maybe it's time for Minnesota to join Ontario and Europe in restricting or halting the use of neonicotinoids. Or, given the shenanigans in the legislature limiting the ability of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to study the effects of pesticides on pollinators, much less restrict or ban their use, it's too late. How unfortunate no real fight on this ability came from the ag commissioner's office or the Dayton administration.
See the AP article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Lawmakers move to block MN from regulating bee-harming insecticide, for the details.
Indeed, the pattern in Minnesota with environmental issues related to agriculture seems to be put on a dog and pony show of concern, then pretty much cave in to most of what the agrichemical industry wants. Lovely.
Photo: The endangered rusty-patched bumblebee, Xerces Society via the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
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