Download or read book Environmental Threats to Pollinator Health and Fitness written by Jon Harrison and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2023-05-12 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental Threats to Pollinator Health and Fitness, Volume 64 in the Advances in Insect Physiology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on a variety of topics, including The threat of higher temperatures to pollinating insects, The challenge of balancing fungicide use and pollinator health, Insecticide effects on pollinating insects, Effects of invasive pathogens and parasites on pollinating insects, Heavy metal pollutants: the hidden pervasive threat to honey bees and other pollinators, Honey bee nutritional ecology: from physiology to landscapes, and more. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in the Advances in Insect Physiology series - Updated release includes the latest information on the Environmental Threats to Pollinator Health and Fitness

Download or read book Status of Pollinators in North America written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-05-13 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pollinators-insects, birds, bats, and other animals that carry pollen from the male to the female parts of flowers for plant reproduction-are an essential part of natural and agricultural ecosystems throughout North America. For example, most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops and some crops that provide fiber, drugs, and fuel depend on animals for pollination. This report provides evidence for the decline of some pollinator species in North America, including America's most important managed pollinator, the honey bee, as well as some butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds. For most managed and wild pollinator species, however, population trends have not been assessed because populations have not been monitored over time. In addition, for wild species with demonstrated declines, it is often difficult to determine the causes or consequences of their decline. This report outlines priorities for research and monitoring that are needed to improve information on the status of pollinators and establishes a framework for conservation and restoration of pollinator species and communities.

Download or read book Bee Health written by Linda-Jo Schierow and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2013-03-13 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bees, both commercially managed honey bees and wild bees, play an important role in global food production. In the United States, the value of honey bees only as commercial pollinators in U.S. food production is estimated at about $15 billion to $20 billion annually. The estimated value of other types of insect pollinators, including wild bees, to U.S. food production is not available. Given their importance to food production, many have expressed concern about whether a “pollinator crisis” has been occurring in recent decades. In the United States, commercial migratory beekeepers along the East Coast of the United States began reporting sharp declines in 2006 in their honey bee colonies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that overwinter colony losses from 2006 to 2011 averaged more than 32% annually. This issue remained legislatively active in the 110th Congress and resulted in increased funding for pollinator research, among other types of farm program support, as part of the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246). Congressional interest in the health of honey bees and other pollinators has continued in the 112th Congress (e.g., H.R. 2381, H.R. 6083, and S. 3240) and may extend into the 113th Congress. This report: Describes changes in managed and wild bee populations, given readily available data and information. It focuses on managed and wild bees only, and excludes other types of pollinators, including other insects, birds, and bats. Data on managed honey bees are limited, and do not provide a comprehensive view of changes in bee populations. Data for wild bee populations are even more limited; Provides a listing of the range of possible factors thought to be negatively affecting managed and wild bee populations. In addition to pesticides, other identified factors include bee pests and diseases, diet and nutrition, genetics, habitat loss and other environmental stressors, and beekeeping management issues, as well as the possibility that bees are being negatively affected by cumulative, multiple exposures and/or the interactive effects of each of these factors; Briefly summarizes readily available scientific research and analysis regarding the potential role of pesticides among the factors affecting the health and wellbeing of bees, as well as the statutory authority and related regulatory activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) related to pesticide use. A 2007 report by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, Status of Pollinators in North America, provides a more detailed scientific context for this report and may be consulted for more in depth understanding about bee health. That study concluded that many factors contribute to pollinator declines in North America, and CRS accedes to that conclusion. Accordingly, the focus of this report on bee exposure to pesticides is not intended to imply that pesticides are any more important in influencing the health and wellness of bees than any of the other identified factors influencing bee health. Pesticides are only one of the many influences on bee health. Because neonicotinoid pesticides have been the focus of concerns in Europe and in the United States, this report briefly describes recent scientific research related to possible effects of exposure to these pesticides on bees. The report concludes with a summary of recent regulatory activity regarding neonicotinoids at EPA, the federal agency charged with assessing risks and regulating U.S. sale and use of pesticides.

Download or read book Pollinators and Pollination written by Jeff Ollerton and published by Pelagic Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2021-01-18 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique and personal insight into the ecology and evolution of pollinators, their relationships with flowers, and their conservation in a rapidly changing world. The pollination of flowers by insects, birds and other animals is a fundamentally important ecological function that supports both the natural world and human society. Without pollinators to facilitate the sexual reproduction of plants, the world would be a biologically poorer place in which to live, there would be an impact on food security, and human health would suffer. Written by one of the world’s leading pollination ecologists, this book provides an introduction to what pollinators are, how their interactions with flowers have evolved, and the fundamental ecology of these relationships. It explores the pollination of wild and agricultural plants in a variety of habitats and contexts, including urban, rural and agricultural environments. The author also provides practical advice on how individuals and organisations can study, and support, pollinators. As well as covering the natural history of pollinators and flowers, the author discusses their cultural importance, and the ways in which pollinator conservation has been portrayed from a political perspective. The book draws on field work experiences in South America, Africa, Australia, the Canary Islands and the UK. For over 30 years the author has spent his career researching how plants and pollinators evolve relationships, how these interactions function ecologically, their importance for society, and how we can conserve them in a rapidly changing world. This book offers a unique and personal insight into the science of pollinators and pollination, aimed at anyone who is interested in understanding these fascinating and crucial ecological interactions.

Download or read book Insect Pollinators in the Anthropocene How Multiple Environmental Stressors Are Shaping Pollinator Health written by Lars Straub and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-10-03 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is consensus that loss of biodiversity is a defining feature of the Anthropocene, with potentially severe consequences for human food security and well-being. Of particular concern are global declines in insect pollinators, such as bees, flies, beetles and butterflies, as their roles in sustaining ecosystem functions and ensuring food production are indispensable. A wide array of abiotic and biotic stressors likely govern the observed insect declines and losses of wild and managed insect pollinators, respectively. For instance, habitat destruction and fragmentation can not only lead to smaller and isolated populations that are vulnerable to environmental stochasticity or inbreeding depression, but also lead to poor nutrition as floral abundance and diversity are reduced. Further key stressors are pests and pathogens, climate change, intensified agriculture and environmental pollution (e.g., pesticides). These environmental stressors may interact with one another and generate complex effects that amplify the direct consequences of a single given stressor. Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge concerning how even the most important environmental stressors may interact to affect insect pollinators. The goal of this effort is to develop a platform that brings together the latest information on how abiotic and biotic stressors interact to impact insect pollinator health. Only by bringing together different lines of evidence will we be able to better predict how these environmental stressors will affect insect pollinators. An improved understanding will also facilitate the development of more effective and sustainable management strategies that will enable stakeholders to implement adequate and sustainable measures to safeguard insect pollinators. This Research Topic welcomes both Original Research and Reviews, as well as Commentary or Opinion articles that address the topic of environmental stressor interactions, and their impact on insect pollinator health. Submissions should be based on, but not limited to: - How combined environmental stressors affect insect pollinators using molecular, physiological, behavioral, ecological or evolutionary approaches - Experimental or survey work conducted under laboratory, semi-field, or field conditions - Unravelling the mechanisms underlying combined stressor interactions - What can be done to limit the impact of combined environmental exposure in the field

Download or read book Protecting Pollinators written by Jodi Helmer and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2019-04-18 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We should thank a pollinator at every meal. These diminutive creatures fertilize a third of the crops we eat. Yet half of the 200,000 species of pollinators are threatened. Birds, bats, insects, and many other pollinators are disappearing, putting our entire food supply in jeopardy. In North America and Europe, bee populations have already plummeted by more than a third and the population of butterflies has declined 31 percent. Protecting Pollinators explores why the statistics have become so dire and how they can be reversed. Jodi Helmer breaks down the latest science on environmental threats and takes readers inside the most promising conservation initiatives. Efforts include famers reducing pesticides, cities creating butterfly highways, volunteers ripping up invasive plants, gardeners planting native flowers, and citizen scientists monitoring migration. Along with inspiring stories of revival and lessons from failed projects, readers will find practical tips to get involved. They will also be reminded of the magic of pollinators—not only the iconic monarch and dainty hummingbird, but the drab hawk moth and homely bats that are just as essential. Without pollinators, the world would be a duller, blander place. Helmer shows how we can make sure they are always fluttering, soaring, and buzzing around us.

Download or read book Environmental Impact of Genetically Modified Crops written by Natalie Ferry and published by CABI. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The genetic modification of crops continues to be the subject of intense debate, and opinions are often strongly polarised. Environmental Impact of Genetically Modified Crops addresses the major concerns of scientists, policy makers, environmental lobby groups and the general public regarding this controversial issue, from an editorially neutral standpoint. While the main focus is on environmental impact, food safety issues, for both humans and animals are also considered. The book concludes with a discussion on the future of agricultural biotechnology in the context of sustainability, natural resource management and future global population and food supply.

Download or read book Ecological Risk Assessment for Chlorpyrifos in Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems in the United States written by John P. Giesy and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-04-10 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications.

Download or read book Bee Health written by Gregory Willard and published by Novinka Books. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bees, both commercially managed honey bees and wild bees, play an important role in global food production. In the United States alone, the value of insect pollination to U.S. agricultural production is estimated at $16 billion annually, of which about three-fourths is attributable to honey bees. Worldwide, the contribution of bees and other insects to global crop production for human food is valued at about $190 billion. Given the importance of bees and other types of pollinators to food production, many have expressed concern about whether a pollinator crisis has been occurring in recent decades. Worldwide reports indicate that populations of both managed honey bees and native bees have been declining, with colony losses in some cases described as severe or unusual. In Europe, managed honey bee colony numbers have been declining since the mid-1960s, and individual beekeepers have reported unusual weakening and mortality in colonies, particularly during the period spanning winter through spring. According to the United Nations, many insect pollinator species may be becoming rarer, causing some to question whether this is a sign of an overall global biodiversity decline. This book examines selected U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies bee-related monitoring, research and outreach, as well as conservation efforts, and The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to protect bees through its regulation of pesticides.

Download or read book Bee Health written by Congressional Research Service and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-02-17 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past few decades there has been heightened concern about the plight of honey bees as well as other bee species. Given the importance of honey bees and other bee species to food production, many have expressed concern about whether a “pollinator crisis” has been occurring in recent decades. Although honey bee colony losses due to bee pests, parasites, pathogens, and disease are not uncommon, there is the perception that bee health has been declining more rapidly than in prior years, both in the United States and globally. This situation gained increased attention in 2006 as some commercial beekeepers began reporting sharp declines in their honey bee colonies. Because of the severity and unusual circumstances of these colony declines, scientists named this phenomenon colony collapse disorder (CCD). Since then, honey bee colonies have continued to dwindle each year, for reasons not solely attributable to CCD. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that CCD may not be the only or even the major cause of bee colony losses in recent years. In the United States, USDA estimates of overwinter colony losses from all causes have averaged nearly 30% annually since 2006. The precise reasons for honey bee losses are not yet known. USDA and most scientists working on the subject seem to agree that no research conclusively points to one single cause for the large number of honey bee deaths. This general conclusion was reconfirmed in a 2013 joint report by USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Reasons cited for bee declines include a wide range of possible factors thought to be negatively affecting pollinator species. However, one issue widely noted is the role that pesticides—in particular, neonicotinoid pesticides—might play in overall bee health. Pesticides are the focus of this report. Pesticides are among many identified factors known to affect bee health, including pests and diseases, diet and nutrition, genetics, habitat loss and other environmental stressors, and beekeeping management issues, as well as the possibility that bees are being negatively affected by cumulative, multiple exposures and/or the interactive effects of several of these factors. The focus of this report on bee exposure to pesticides is not intended to imply that pesticides are any more important in influencing the health and wellness of bees than other identified factors influencing bee health. Pesticides are one of many influences on bee health. The current state of knowledge on pesticides and bee health is summarized in the USDA-EPA report: it is not clear, based on current research, whether pesticide exposure is a major factor associated with U.S. honey bee health declines in general, or specifically affects production of honey or delivery of pollination services. It is clear, however, that in some instances honey bee colonies can be severely harmed by exposure to high doses of insecticides when these compounds are used on crops, or via drift onto flowers in areas adjacent to crops that are attractive to bees.

Download or read book Chemical agriculture and pollinators signs of a Planet in danger Biomonitoring with bees written by Giuseppe Zicari and published by Giuseppe Zicari. This book was released on 2022-01-28 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bees, these extraordinary creatures that have inhabited the Planet for over 100 million years, are the common thread that tells the story of various ecological challenges such as the reduction of biodiversity, climate change, soil degradation and energy transition. When the most presumptuous species on the Planet interferes with the course of nature, it causes serious damage, altering the possibility of survival of non-humans, such as the pollinators, without understanding that this is actually a self-destructive ecocide. Paradoxically, agriculture, which is one of the activities most closely dependent on a healthy biosphere, is one of the major causes of irreversible and, therefore, unsustainable changes such as global warming and the extinction of pollinators from which it derives its benefits and wealth. The massive use of fossil fuels, the distribution of poisons such as pesticides (which are persistent, toxic and bioaccumulative), the loss of fertility, in monocultures of plants selected to satisfy economic needs (e.g.: genetically modified organisms), are some of the main causes of an ecologically unsustainable food production system. There is no more time, we cannot afford to waste economic resources such as those dedicated to the production of agrofuels (maize cultivated to obtain methane, biogas) and genetically modified plants (e.g.: those made resistant to herbicides); we must take a step backwards in the way we manage natural resources. One species can only thrive if all the others are healthy, we must embrace this principle. This book tries to show a different vision of the World we are building, a story full of backstories and full of underestimated dangers

Download or read book Pollinator Partnership Action Plan Ppap written by Executive Office Executive Office of the President and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-06-30 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On behalf of the Pollinator Health Task Force, we are pleased to transmit the Pollinator Partnership Action Plan (PPAP). The PPAP responds to the President's emphasis on public-private partnerships in his June 2014 Memorandum "Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators." This special focus on partnerships was reiterated in the Federal Pollinator Strategy commitment to prepare a Partnership Action Plan to amplify the many Federal actions advanced under the Presidential Memorandum through complementary state and private-sector actions. Only through such coordinated national efforts can we expeditiously expand pollinator-health initiatives to achieve the scale necessary to make meaningful and long-term improvements. In particular, Federal agencies are working with the private sector toward ways to institutionalize these changes into business models and public understanding. This reflects the growing understanding of the ecological services provided to humanity by pollinators, and the importance of all lands-even those on the margins-to providing habitat and forage for these creatures.

Download or read book Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change written by Melissa R. Marselle and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book identifies and discusses biodiversity’s contribution to physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the book identifies the implications of this relationship for nature conservation, public health, landscape architecture and urban planning – and considers the opportunities of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation. This transdisciplinary book will attract a wide audience interested in biodiversity, ecology, resource management, public health, psychology, urban planning, and landscape architecture. The emphasis is on multiple human health benefits from biodiversity - in particular with respect to the increasing challenge of climate change. This makes the book unique to other books that focus either on biodiversity and physical health or natural environments and mental wellbeing. The book is written as a definitive ‘go-to’ book for those who are new to the field of biodiversity and health.

Download or read book Special Topics in Plant Science written by Neslihan KARAVİN and published by Livre de Lyon. This book was released on 2022-12-25 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Special Topics in Plant Science, Livre de Lyon

Download or read book Attracting Native Pollinators written by The Xerces Society and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2011-02-28 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the recent decline of the European honey bee, it is more important than ever to encourage the activity of other native pollinators to keep your flowers beautiful and your grains and produce plentiful. In Attracting Native Pollinators, you’ll find ideas for building nesting structures and creating a welcoming habitat for an array of diverse pollinators that includes not only bees, but butterflies, moths, and more. Take action and protect North America’s food supply for the future, while at the same time enjoying a happily bustling landscape.

Download or read book The Insect Crisis The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World written by Oliver Milman and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate. From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet’s known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it? With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story. By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.

Download or read book Managing Alternative Pollinators written by Eric Mader and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Examines the history of the British fire service from 1800-1980, embracing certain key themes of modern British history: the impact of industrial change on urban development, the effect of disaster on political reform, the growth of the state, and the relationship between masculinity and trade unionism in creating a professional identity"--Provided by publisher.