Many ecosystem services are delivered by organisms that depend on habitats that are segregated spatially or temporally from the location where services are provided. Management of mobile organisms contributing to ecosystem services requires consideration not only of the local scale where services are delivered, but also the distribution of resources at the landscape scale, and the foraging ranges and dispersal movements of the mobile agents. We develop a conceptual model for exploring how one such mobile-agent-based ecosystem service (MABES), pollination, is affected by land-use change, and then generalize the model to other MABES. The model includes interactions and feedbacks among policies affecting land use, market forces and the biology of the organisms involved. Animal-mediated pollination contributes to the production of goods of value to humans such as crops; it also bolsters reproduction of wild plants on which other services or service-providing organisms depend. About onethird of crop production depends on animal pollinators, while 60-90% of plant species require an animal pollinator. The sensitivity of mobile organisms to ecological factors that operate across spatial scales makes the services provided by a given community of mobile agents highly contextual. Services vary, depending on the spatial and temporal distribution of resources surrounding the site, and on biotic interactions occurring locally, such as competition among pollinators for resources, and among plants for pollinators. The value of the resulting goods or services may feed back via market-based forces to influence land-use policies, which in turn influence land management practices that alter local habitat conditions and landscape structure. Developing conceptual
Supporting managed honey bees by pasturing in natural landscapes has come under review due to concerns that honey bees could negatively impact the survival of wild bees through competition for floral resources. Critique and assessment of the existing body of published literature against our criteria focussing on studies that can support best management resulted in 19 experimental papers. Indirect measures of competition examining foraging patterns and behavior yielded equivocal results. Direct measures of reproduction and growth were investigated in only seven studies, with six indicating negative impacts to wild bees from the presence of managed honey bees. Three of these studies examined fitness impacts to BombusLatreille and all three indicated reduced growth or reduced reproductive output. Because there is a severe lack of literature, yet potential that honey bee presence could negatively impact wild bees, exemplified with bumble bee studies, we advocate for further research into the fitness impacts of competition between managed and wild pollinators. Conservative approaches should be taken with respect to pasturing honey bees on natural lands with sensitive bumble bee populations. Correspondingly, forage opportunities for honey bees in managed, agricultural landscapes, should be increased in an effort to reduce potential pressure and infringement on wild bee populations in natural areas.
The commercial production and subsequent movement of bumble bees for pollination of agricultural field and greenhouse crops is a growing industry in North America and globally. Concerns have been raised about the impacts of pathogen spillover from managed bees to wild pollinators, including from commercial bumble bees. We recommend development of a program to mitigate disease risk in commercial bumble bee production, which will in turn reduce disease stressors on wild pollinators and other insects. We provide recommendations for the components of a clean stock program with specific best management practices for rearing commercial bumble bees including related products such as wax, pollen, and nesting material.
Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are important pollinators for both wild and agriculturally managed plants. We give an overview of what is known about the diverse community of internal potentially deleterious bumble bee symbionts, including viruses, bacteria, protozoans, fungi, and nematodes, as well as methods for their detection, quantification, and control. We also provide information on assessment of risk for select bumble bee symbionts and highlight key knowledge gaps. This information is crucial for ongoing efforts to establish parasite-free programs for future commerce in bumble bees for crop pollination, and to mitigate the problems with pathogen spillover to wild populations.
NAPPC), and the development of a database of pollinators for all threatened and endangered plant species on Department of Defense land, just to name a few.P2 is currently putting the fi nishing touches on a training class for land managers on assessing pollinator health at the landscape level, a fi eld guide to bumble bees for land management practitioners, and a continuing education course for certifi ed professional pesticide applicators with revised
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