Download Plight of the Pollinators: Factors of Pollinator Decline

Pollinators:
Organisms,
syndromes,
and challenges
Amanda Wilkins
Horticultural Consultant
MSc Biodiversity and Taxonomy
of Plants
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Photos by Amanda Wilkins
Some definitions first….
Anatomy of a Flower
“Pollination occurs
when pollen is
moved within flowers
or carried from
flower to flower by
pollinating animals
such as birds, bees,
bats, butterflies,
moths, beetles, or
other animals, or by
the wind.” –Pollinator
Partnership
Biodiversity
• Biodiversity comprises all the
millions of different species
that live on our planet, as well
as the genetic differences
within species. It also refers to
the multitude of different
ecosystems in which species
form unique communities,
interacting with one another
and the air, water and soil.
• genetic diversity
• species diversity
• ecosystem diversity
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
- Swingland, I. R. 2001, via World
Wildlife Fund
Keystone species
• A species whose removal would
result in “dramatic changes…in
the varieties and population
densities of all the other species
in the community”
• “one whose impacts on its
community or ecosystem are
large and greater than would
be expected from its relative
abundance or total biomass”
• Developed by UW zoology
professor Robert T. Paine in 1969
(University of Washington and
Encyclopedia of Earth)
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Limulus polyphemus, Horseshoe crab,
surveying on Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Pollinator Syndromes
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Hibiscus aculeatus, comfortroot
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Clinopodium
coccineum,
fire sage
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Zamia pumila, coontie
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Spigelia marilandica,
woodland pinkroot
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Salvia guaranitica
'Black and Blue'
Pollinators
Eastern black swallowtail enjoying fresh Asclepias tuberosa,
butterflyweed, Mobile Botanical Garden Longleaf Pine Forest
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• the biotic agent (vector) that
moves pollen from the male
anthers of a flower to the female
stigma of a flower to accomplish
fertilization
• Bees, Bats, Beetles, Flies (Family
Syrphidae mainly, but many others
in the Order Diptera), Butterflies,
Moths, Birds, Ants
• 35% of global food production
relies on animal pollinators, which is
made up of mostly bee species
(USDA, 2008; White House, 2014)
• Pollinators contribute $24 billion
worth of ecosystem services to the
U.S. economy
European Honey Bees- Ancient Times
www.beebase.org
• Apis mellifera L.
• Originated from Northeast
Africa or the Middle East
• Humans have been
cultivating and domesticating
bees for more than 5,000
years
• Large colonies versus solitary
native species or species with
small colonies
Honey Bees- Modern Day Decline
• Found all over the world
• Help keep our food system diverse
• enable the production of at least 90
commercially grown crops in North America
• $15 billion a year in pollination and
ecosystem services
• Agricultural crop dependence on
commercial honey bee hives, increase in
cost
• Bee colony loss rates increase to an
average of 30 percent each winter,
compared to historical loss rates of 10 to
15 percent
• Stressed bees?
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• loss of natural forage and inadequate diets
• Mite (Nosema) infestations and diseasescarryover to native species
• loss of genetic diversity
• exposure to certain pesticides
Colony Collapse Disorder
• Identified During Winter
2006/07
• Worker bees just left
• Queen, brood, food left
behind
• No dead bees around
• Still not sure of cause
• Combination of factors?
• Of national importance
Photo by Todd Huffman CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
Number of Honey Bee Colonies (in the
millions)
Decline in Honey Bee Colonies Over the
Last 75 Years (USDA, 2015)
7
6
5
4
Honey Bee Colonies
3
2
1
0
1947
1970
1990
2015
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Native Bees (and other
Hymenopterans)
• Order Hymenoptera
• Wasps, hornets, bees,
bumble bees, sweat bees
• 4,000 species of native
bees in North America
• Solitary, small colonies
• 50 in documented decline
• Ecological services
estimated at $9 billion by
native bees, and other
native pollinators
• More plentiful and better
pollinators (Cornell, 2013)
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• Nine critically imperiled
Native Bumble Bees
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• 250 species of bumble bees
worldwide
• 46 species in North American
• one third are at risk of
extinction (Xerces Society,
2014)
• five species are Critically
Endangered and two are
Endangered
• Bumble Bee Watch project
• Populations issues?
• Funding.
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Native Pollinator Diversity and the effects
on overall biodiversity of ecosystems
• ecosystem-service-based
arguments- Delivery of
crop pollination services is
an insufficient argument for
wild pollinator conservation
(Kleijn, et al., 2014)
• Reproductive/population
health of rare and
endangered species
Butterflies
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• More than 700 species in
North America
• Six of the Red Listed
species are known to
occur in AL
• Highly sensitive to
ecosystem changes
• Four stages of life, most
species have highly
specific needs
• Hibernate
• 1 billion in 1995, to 57
million in 2014
• Monarch sighted in along
the Gulf Coast in the
winter, but spring sightings
begin in mid-March
(Journey North, 2015)
• Milkweeds were reported
blooming the third week
of March, 2015 (Journey
North, 2015)
Butterflies (in millions)
Monarch Butterflies
Overwintering Population (in
millions) of Monarch Butterflies
in Mexico Overwintering
Sanctuaries (2009-2015)
(Journey North, 2015)
250
200
150
100
50
0
Total
Population
(in millions)
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Monarch
Sanctuary
Selection
(Journey North,
2015)
Moths
• Mainly nocturnal nectar
feeders
• White flowers fragrant at
night
Hummingbird Clearwing, Hemaris thysbe, on
an Aesculus parviflora, dwarf horse chestnut,
Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• Case of the Yucca Moth
and Darwin’s Orchid
Hummingbirds
• 23 species have been observed
in North America
• Ruby-throat challenge
• Migration and waifs
• Conservation challenge: Habitat
loss
• Winter feeder availability
• Insectivores as well
Baby hummingbirds in a lichen-crafted nest,
Polly Hill Arboretum, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Beetles
• Order Coleoptera- hardened
exterior exoskeleton covering the
upper wings
• Prehistoric visitors, 50 million years
before bees
• Mess and soil pollinators
• Responsible for pollinating 88% of
the 240,000 flowering plants
globally (USDA)
• ~25,000 species in North America
Magnolia grandiflora, Southern Magnolia,
commonly pollinated by beetles
Scot Nelson (via Flickr) CC BY-SA 2.0
Hylocereus undatus,
queen of the night
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Piper nigrum, pepper
Bats
• Order Chiroptera
• Found throughout the world,
except the Arctic Circle and
Antarctica
• Consume insects, fruits and
flower nectar, vertebrates and
blood
• 75 percent being insectivores
• 150 bats can eat up to 33 million
crop pests in a single summer
• Estimated value of bat predation
on insect pests in the agriculture
industry was $23 billion annually
Eastern Red Bat, Lasiurus borealis
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• 47 species found in North
America
Northern Longeared Bat
Northern Long-eared Bat, Myotis
septentrionalis
• Moved from least
concern to
threatened in 2014,
now federally listed
• Population has
declined 90 percent
since 2009
• Candidate species for
listing in many
Northeastern states
http://www.esablawg.com/esalaw/ESBlawg.nsf/archive?openvi
ew&type=Category&key=Endangered%20Species%20Act
White-nose Syndrome
Pseudogymnoascus destructans
(Blehert & Gargas) Minnis & D.L. Lindner
https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/
Occurrence, as
of 4/9/2015
Occurrence, as
of 8/2/2016
https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/
• Found in NY in 2006
• Fungus introduced
from Europe
• Killed at least 5.7
million to 6.7 million
bats
• Eight species affected
in the U.S.
• Effect of climate
change
• 90-100 percent
mortality
• Affects behavior
The Facts
Photo: Ryan von Linden/New York Department of Environmental Conservation
Cascading Ecological Effects
• Common species are now
undergoing rapid population crashes,
such as the common little brown bat
www.mammology.org
• Slow reproduction cycle
• More than 50 percent of the bat
species in North America use caves
at some point in their life cycle
• Most North American species are
insectivorous and eat tons of insects
each season, thus reducing the
populations of insects that put
pressure on agricultural and urban
areas
Pesticides
Neonicotinoids
• Systemic pesticide
• Green Revolution and the
• Imitates nicotine
advent Industrial Agriculture
• Advent in the 1990s by Bayer
CropScience
• Reading labels is critical, but
• Imidacloprid, clothianidin,
improving labeling is even
dinotefuran, acetamiprid and
more important
thiamethoxam
• Monoculture issue- incrossing
• Big Names
•
•
•
•
Monsanto
Syngenta
Bayer Crop Science
Du Pont (Pioneer)
• Brand/trade names- Advantage®, etc.
• Benefits:
•
•
•
•
water-soluble
break down slowly in the environment
more toxic to insects than mammals
Paralyzes and kills quickly
What’s the problem?
• EPA has committed to environmental review of
neonicotinoids by 2018
• EU has banned three neonics for two years, pending
completing a scientific review
• clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam
• Bayer CropScience and Syngenta lawsuit argument
• Harvard Study
• Winter of 2010-2011 and 2012-2013, six replications
• Imidacloprid and clothianidin
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• Steps
•
•
•
•
Prevention
Avoidance
Monitoring
Suppression
• Biological, cultural, physical
and chemical controls
• Benefits
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• Saves time and money
• Uses sound scientific principles
• Decrease likeliness of pests
developing resistance
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Fragmentation
• Nectar corridors
• Habitat degradation
• Conservation Reserve
Program
• Ideal habitat
• sites > ½ acre in size with a
diversity of plants and > 45
percent forb cover
•
• Difference between a weed
and an invasive species
• Threaten diversity of plant
species
• Disrupts the composition of
ecosystems
• Incompatibility with
specialized pollinators
• Competition with native plant
species
Photos by Amanda Wilkins
Invasive plant species
Folks involved in Pollinator
Conservation
• USDA
• Farm Service Agency
• Natural Resources Conservation Service
• USFWS
• Federal Endangered Species Program
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Xerces Society
Pollinator Partnership
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Journey North
GEF/UNEP/FAO Global Pollination Project
Project Monarch
Pollinator Health Task Force
What Can You Do?
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
• Donate to local and national
causes that support pollinator
conservation
• Plant native plants that can
serve as nectar and host plants
for visiting pollinators
• Reduce the use of pesticides in
your landscape and encourage
your municipality to do that
same
• Buy local food from farmers
who use sustainable production
methods
• Participate in citizen science
programs to help with pollinator
population monitoring
• Remove invasive species from
your property and encourage
your municipality to do the
same from public lands
Photo by Amanda Wilkins
Mobile Botanical
Gardens Butterfly and
Pollinator Garden
Things to Plant in Your Garden
in Fort Collins, CO
• Pollinator Partnership Planting Guides
• Southern Rocky Mountain Steppe
• Colorado Plateau
• Food, water, shelter
• Plant biodiversity breeds overall biodiversity
Monarda pectinata (Left)
Photo by Patrick Alexander
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr
Lupinus argenteus (Middle)
Photo by
Juniperus_scopulorum
CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr
Ligusticum porteri (Right)
Photo by Andrey Zharkikh
CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
Resources for Pollinators in CO
• CO Department of Agriculture:
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agplants/coloradopollinator-workgroup
• Pollinator.org Planting Guides
• http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/ColoradoPlateau.rx2.pdf
• http://pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/SRockyMtStepperx3FINAL.pdf
• Boulder, CO pamphlet: https://wwwstatic.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/native-pollinatorsnative-plants-1-201407021611.pdf