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Field-level clothianidin exposure affects bumblebees but generally not their pathogens

Wintermantel, Dimitry ; Locke, Barbara ; Andersson, Georg K.S. LU orcid ; Semberg, Emilia ; Forsgren, Eva ; Osterman, Julia ; Rahbek Pedersen, Thorsten ; Bommarco, Riccardo LU ; Smith, Henrik G. LU and Rundlöf, Maj LU orcid , et al. (2018) In Nature Communications 9(1).
Abstract

Neonicotinoids are implicated in bee declines and laboratory studies imply that they impair the bee immune system, thereby precipitating a rise in pathogen levels. To establish whether such synergisms reduce bee performance in real-world agricultural landscapes, we analysed the microbial composition of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) samples from our recent landscape study on the impacts of field-level clothianidin exposure. We related clothianidin exposure and microbial composition to both individual- and colony-level performance parameters, to better understand the direct and indirect mechanistic effects of neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees. We show that exposure to clothianidin from seed-coated oilseed rape reduces bumblebee... (More)

Neonicotinoids are implicated in bee declines and laboratory studies imply that they impair the bee immune system, thereby precipitating a rise in pathogen levels. To establish whether such synergisms reduce bee performance in real-world agricultural landscapes, we analysed the microbial composition of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) samples from our recent landscape study on the impacts of field-level clothianidin exposure. We related clothianidin exposure and microbial composition to both individual- and colony-level performance parameters, to better understand the direct and indirect mechanistic effects of neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees. We show that exposure to clothianidin from seed-coated oilseed rape reduces bumblebee size and numbers, particularly of reproductives. However, exposure does not affect the levels of non-pathogenic bacteria or viruses, nor induce rises in the levels or virulence of intracellular parasites. We conclude that field exposure to the neonicotinoid clothianidin affects bumblebee performance but generally not their pathogenic or beneficial microbiota.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Communications
volume
9
issue
1
article number
5446
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:30575755
  • scopus:85058916064
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-018-07914-3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
565dd345-85d3-4bcb-9073-e751eb7ea0a9
date added to LUP
2019-01-04 08:42:47
date last changed
2024-03-18 22:35:26
@article{565dd345-85d3-4bcb-9073-e751eb7ea0a9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Neonicotinoids are implicated in bee declines and laboratory studies imply that they impair the bee immune system, thereby precipitating a rise in pathogen levels. To establish whether such synergisms reduce bee performance in real-world agricultural landscapes, we analysed the microbial composition of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) samples from our recent landscape study on the impacts of field-level clothianidin exposure. We related clothianidin exposure and microbial composition to both individual- and colony-level performance parameters, to better understand the direct and indirect mechanistic effects of neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees. We show that exposure to clothianidin from seed-coated oilseed rape reduces bumblebee size and numbers, particularly of reproductives. However, exposure does not affect the levels of non-pathogenic bacteria or viruses, nor induce rises in the levels or virulence of intracellular parasites. We conclude that field exposure to the neonicotinoid clothianidin affects bumblebee performance but generally not their pathogenic or beneficial microbiota.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wintermantel, Dimitry and Locke, Barbara and Andersson, Georg K.S. and Semberg, Emilia and Forsgren, Eva and Osterman, Julia and Rahbek Pedersen, Thorsten and Bommarco, Riccardo and Smith, Henrik G. and Rundlöf, Maj and de Miranda, Joachim R.}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Field-level clothianidin exposure affects bumblebees but generally not their pathogens}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07914-3}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-018-07914-3}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}