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Subject:
From:
Ghislain De Roeck <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 22 Dec 2015 07:39:10 +0100
Content-Type:
text/plain
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New research in the same area:


Modeling the status, trends, and impacts of wild bee abundance in the United
States

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/materials/KohetalPNASfinalproof.pdf

Insu Koha,1, Eric V. Lonsdorfa,b, Neal M. Williamsc, Claire Brittainc, Rufus
Isaacsd, Jason Gibbsd, and Taylor H. Rickettsa,ea Gund Institute for
Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405; bBiology
Department, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604; cDepartment
of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616;
dDepartment of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
48824; and eRubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources,
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405

Edited by May R. Berenbaum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Urbana, IL, and approved November 20, 2015 (received for review September 4,
2015)


Abstract
Wild bees are highly valuable pollinators. Along with managed honey bees,
they provide a critical ecosystem service by ensuring stable pollination to
agriculture and wild plant communities. Increasing concern about the welfare
of both wild and managed pollinators, however, has prompted recent calls for
national evaluation
and action. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we assess the status
and trends ofwild bees and their potential impacts on pollination services
across the coterminous United States.We use a spatial habitat model,
national land-cover data, and carefully quantified expert knowledge to
estimate wild bee abundance and
associated uncertainty. Between 2008 and 2013, modeled bee abundance
declined across 23% of US land area. This decline was generally associated
with conversion of natural habitats to row crops.We identify 139 counties
where low bee abundances correspond to large areas of pollinator-dependent
crops. These areas of mismatch
between supply (wild bee abundance) and demand (cultivated area) for
pollination comprise 39% of the pollinator-dependent crop area in the United
States. Further, we find that the crops most highly dependent on pollinators
tend to experience more severe mismatches between declining supply and
increasing demand. These trends, should they continue, may increase costs
for US farmers and may even destabilize crop production over time. National
assessments such as this can help focus both scientific and political
efforts to understand and sustain wild bees. As new information becomes
available, repeated assessments can update findings, revise priorities, and
track progress toward sustainable management of our nation's pollinators.

Kind regards,

Ghislain De Roeck,
Belgium.

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