See also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12385/pdf


Emerging viral disease risk to pollinating insects: ecological, evolutionary
and anthropogenic factors

Robyn Manley, Mike Boots and Lena Wilfert*
Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus,
Penryn TR10 9EF, UK

Summary

1. The potential for infectious pathogens to spillover and emerge from
managed populations
to wildlife communities is poorly understood, but ecological, evolutionary
and anthropogenic
factors are all likely to influence the initial exposure and subsequent
infection, spread and
impact of disease. Fast-evolving RNA viruses, known to cause severe colony
losses in managed
honeybee populations, deserve particular attention for their propensity to
jump
between host species and thus threaten ecologically and economically
important wild pollinator
communities.
2. We review the literature on pollinator viruses to identify biological and
anthropogenic
drivers of disease emergence, highlight gaps in the literature, and discuss
potential management
strategies.
3. We provide evidence that many wild pollinator species are exposed to
viruses from commercial
species, resulting in multiple spillover events. However, it is not clear
whether species
become infected as a result of spillover or whether transmission is
occurring within these wild
populations. Ecological traits of pollinating insects, such as overlapping
ranges, niches and
behaviours, clearly promote cross-species transmission of RNA viruses.
Moreover, we conclude
that the social behaviour and phylogenetic relatedness of social pollinators
further facilitate
within- and between-host transmission, leaving these species particularly
vulnerable to
emerging diseases.
4. We argue that the commercial use of pollinators is a key driver of
disease emergence in
these beneficial insects and that this must be addressed by management and
policy.
5. Synthesis and applications. There are important knowledge gaps, ranging
from disease distribution
and prevalence, to pathogen life history and virulence, to the impacts of
disease
emergence, which need to be addressed as research priorities. It is clear
that avoiding anthropogenic
pathogen spillover is crucial to preventing and managing disease emergence
in pollinators,
with far-reaching effects on our food security, ecosystem services and
biodiversity. We
argue that it is crucial to prevent the introduction of diseased pollinators
into natural environments,
which can be achieved through improved monitoring and management practices.
Key-words: pollinators, emerging disease, anthropogenic, biological risk
factors,


Kind regards,

Ghislain De Roeck,
Belgium.

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