Do novel insecticides pose a threat to bees?
Sulfoxaflor is a novel insecticide used in 81 countries around the world. Despite this, we know little about its potential sub-lethal impacts on important pollinators.
Our research has demonstrated that sulfoxaflor exposure can negatively impact the worker production and reproductive output of wild bumblebee colonies. Sulfoxaflor exposure can also impair bumblebee egg laying and larval development, although we found no impact on learning and memory.
Overall this research has shown that sulfoxaflor exposure can have a negative impact on bumblebees.
What’s the meta with bees?
Global declines in wild pollinators, and localised honeybee colony collapses have resulted in a plethora of research investigating potential anthropogenic factors on bees, and other pollinators. Drawing conclusions from this research is difficult as individual studies differ in their methodologies, sample size and outcomes.
In response to this, we are using meta-analysis techniques to combine this information and produce robust conclusions on how anthropogenic factors, such as pesticides, influence pollinators. We hope the information we provide will aid policy makers, conservationists, and regulators alike.
Quantifying the interaction effects between anthropogenic stressors on wild pollinators
We are living in the age of the Anthropocene with unprecedented levels of biodiversity loss as a consequence of human induced environmental change. The drivers of these declines are multifaceted, but factors such as habitat loss and climate change have clear negative impacts on biodiversity. While these stressors are typically studied individually, animals are almost always be exposed to multiple stressors simultaneously. In these cases, there may be synergistic interactions between stressors, where the resulting effect is greater than the combined impact of individual stressors.In 2021 I was awarded the Stengl-Wyer fellowship to investigate how anthropogenic stressors such as pesticides and climate change interact in relation to wild bee health.
