Flowering plant composition shapes pathogen infection intensity and reproduction in bumble bee colonies

Adler, Lynn S.; Barber, Nicholas A.; Biller, Olivia M.; Irwin, Rebecca E.

doi:10.1073/pnas.2000074117

Cited by 39 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Diet and bee foraging choices can influence pathogen transmission and prevalence. The flower species visited by bees could influence pathogen dynamics due to differences in transmission potential 19 , 36 , 37 and/or antimicrobial properties of pollen and nectar 38 , 39 . In particular, sunflower pollen has been shown to markedly reduce C. bombi infections in bumble bees 39 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits linked to pathogen prevalence in wild bee communities

Figueroa

Compton

Grab

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Reports of pollinator declines have prompted efforts to understand contributing factors and protect vulnerable species. While pathogens can be widespread in bee communities, less is known about factors shaping pathogen prevalence among species. Functional traits are often used to predict susceptibility to stressors, including pathogens, in other species-rich communities. Here, we evaluated the relationship between bee functional traits (body size, phenology, nesting location, sociality, and foraging choice) and prevalence of trypanosomes, neogregarines, and the microsporidian Nosema ceranae in wild bee communities. For the most abundant bee species in our system, Bombus impatiens, we also evaluated the relationship between intra-specific size variation and pathogen prevalence. A trait-based model fit the neogregarine prevalence data better than a taxa-based model, while the taxonomic model provided a better model fit for N. ceranae prevalence, and there was no marked difference between the models for trypanosome prevalence. We found that Augochlorella aurata was more likely to harbor trypanosomes than many other bee taxa. Similarly, we found that bigger bees and those with peak activity later in the season were less likely to harbor trypanosomes, though the effect of size was largely driven by A. aurata. We found no clear intra-specific size patterns for pathogen prevalence in B. impatiens. These results indicate that functional traits are not always better than taxonomic affinity in predicting pathogen prevalence, but can help to explain prevalence depending on the pathogen in species-rich bee communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits linked to pathogen prevalence in wild bee communities

Figueroa

Compton

Grab

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…pollinators can introduce novel infections to native pollinator communities. Climate-induced plant extinctions may also affect flower-mediated pathogen transmission by shifting community structure to be dominated by plant species with different potential to act as hubs of pathogen transmission [72] (Figure 1D). Additionally, pollinator forage plants may be extirpated or produce less flowers or lower-quality floral rewards under changed climatic circumstances [73], causing nutritional stress and higher susceptibility of hosts [74].…”

Section: Mechanistic Process-oriented Modelling Of Wild Pollinator DImentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways for Novel Epidemiology: Plant–Pollinator–Pathogen Networks and Global Change

Proesmans

Albrecht

Gajda

et al. 2021

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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Multiple global change pressures, and their interplay, cause plant-pollinator extinctions and modify species assemblages and interactions. This may alter the risks of pathogen host shifts, intra-or interspecific pathogen spread, and emergence of novel population or community epidemics. Flowers are hubs for pathogen transmission. Consequently, the structure of plant-pollinator interaction networks may be pivotal in pathogen host shifts and modulating disease dynamics. Traits of plants, pollinators, and pathogens may also govern the interspecific spread of pathogens. Pathogen spillover-spillback between managed and wild pollinators risks driving the evolution of virulence and community epidemics. Understanding this interplay between host-pathogen dynamics and global change will be crucial to predicting impacts on pollinators and pollination underpinning ecosystems and human wellbeing.

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“…Here, we focus on under-explored abiotic factors, which can be important if viruses are spread by environmental contamination or aerosolisation, then abiotic factors can be important. In bumblebees, infection is often thought to take place at flowers ( Durrer and Schmid-Hempel, 1994 ; McArt et al, 2014 ; Graystock et al, 2015 ; Agler et al, 2019 ) and so factors that reduce contamination of floral structures may be predicted to reduce the rate of infection in the general bumblebee population ( Adler et al, 2020 ); obvious mechanisms are viral deactivation, flower visitation rates and physical cleaning. The rate of viral deactivation can be increased in high temperatures, both independently and through an interaction with relative humidity ( Mbithi et al, 1991 ) and high UV levels may deactivate virus particles rapidly ( Lytle and Sagripanti, 2005 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virus Prevalence and Genetic Diversity Across a Wild Bumblebee Community

et al. 2021

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Viruses are key population regulators, but we have limited knowledge of the diversity and ecology of viruses. This is even the case in wild host populations that provide ecosystem services, where small fitness effects may have major ecological impacts in aggregate. One such group of hosts are the bumblebees, which have a major role in the pollination of food crops and have suffered population declines and range contractions in recent decades. In this study, we investigate the diversity of four recently discovered bumblebee viruses (Mayfield virus 1, Mayfield virus 2, River Liunaeg virus, and Loch Morlich virus), and two previously known viruses that infect both wild bumblebees and managed honeybees (Acute bee paralysis virus and Slow bee paralysis virus) from isolates in Scotland. We investigate the ecological and environmental factors that determine viral presence and absence. We show that the recently discovered bumblebee viruses were more genetically diverse than the viruses shared with honeybees. Coinfection is potentially important in shaping prevalence: we found a strong positive association between River Liunaeg virus and Loch Morlich virus presence after controlling for host species, location and other relevant ecological variables. We tested for a relationship between environmental variables (temperature, UV radiation, wind speed, and prevalence), but as we had few sampling sites, and thus low power for site-level analyses, we could not conclude anything regarding these variables. We also describe the relationship between the bumblebee communities at our sampling sites. This study represents a first step in the description of predictors of bumblebee infection in the wild.

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Flowering plant composition shapes pathogen infection intensity and reproduction in bumble bee colonies

Cited by 39 publications

References 64 publications

Functional traits linked to pathogen prevalence in wild bee communities

Functional traits linked to pathogen prevalence in wild bee communities

Pathways for Novel Epidemiology: Plant–Pollinator–Pathogen Networks and Global Change

Virus Prevalence and Genetic Diversity Across a Wild Bumblebee Community

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