The effects of aluminum and nickel in nectar on the foraging behavior of bumblebees

Meindl, George A.; Ashman, Tia‐Lynn

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2013.02.017

Cited by 68 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…On the other hand, during flowering the nectar attracts bees and it is an important source of the commonly consumed and sold “eucalyptus honey” [31]. That food should be also monitored for heavy metals toxicity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of Eucalyptus camaldulensis for phytostabilization and biomonitoring of trace-element contaminated soils

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soil pollution by trace elements (TEs) from mining and industrial activity is widespread and presents a risk to humans and ecosystems. The use of trees to immobilize TEs (phytostabilization) is a low-cost and effective method of soil remediation. We aimed to determine the chemical composition of leaves and flower buds of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in seven sites along the Guadiamar River valley (SW Spain), an area contaminated by a mine-spill in 1998. E. camaldulensis trees in the spill-affected area and adjacent non affected areas were growing on a variety of soils with pH from 5.6 to 8.1 with low concentration of plant nutrients. The spill affected soils contained up to 1069 mg kg-1 of As and 4086 mg kg-1 of Pb. E. camaldulensis tolerated elevated TE concentrations in soil and, compared to other species growing in the same environment, had low TE concentrations in the aerial portions. Besides tolerance to soil contamination, E. camaldulensis had low bioaccumulation coefficients for soil contaminants. TE concentrations in the aboveground portions were below levels reported to be toxic to plants or ecosystems. Flower buds had even lower TE concentrations than leaves. Despite the relatively low concentration of TEs in leaves they were significantly correlated with the soil extractable (0.01 M CaCl2) Cd, Mn and Zn (but not Cu and Pb). The general features of this tree species: tolerance to impoverished and contaminated soils, fast growth and deep root system, and low transfer of TEs from soil to aboveground organs makes it suitable for phytostabilization of soils contaminated by TEs. In addition, eucalyptus leaves could be used for biomonitoring the soil extractability of Cd, Mn and Zn but not Cu or Pb.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of Eucalyptus camaldulensis for phytostabilization and biomonitoring of trace-element contaminated soils

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, it is unknown whether most serpentine plants accumulate Ni into pollen grains, despite evidence that plants growing in soils contaminated by metals via human activities can accumulate them into pollen (Moroń et al 2012). Metals in pollen could reduce germination (citations above; Mohsenzadeh et al 2011; Yousefi et al 2011 a ) or pollinator attraction (Meindl and Ashman 2014), and Ni accumulation in nectar can affect pollinator foraging (Meindl and Ashman 2013, 2014). Thus, a first and necessary step towards understanding the reproductive consequences of growth on serpentine soil is documenting metal concentrations of reproductive organs and floral rewards of non-hyperaccumulating serpentine plants, as well as determining whether or not non-hyperaccumulating endemic species are better able to avoid potentially deleterious effects of metals by excluding them from reproductive organs than non-endemics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nickel accumulation in leaves, floral organs and rewards varies by serpentine soil affinity

2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, we determined whether nickel uptake varies with level of serpentine endemism and quantified nickel concentrations in leaves, pistils, anthers, pollen and nectar in several plant species. Endemic species had the lowest tissue concentrations of nickel. Species indifferent to serpentines incorporated higher concentrations of nickel into reproductive organs relative to leaves, but this was not the case for indicator species and endemics where nickel was similar in these organs. Our findings suggest that endemic species possess the ability to limit nickel uptake into above-ground tissues, particularly in reproductive organs where it may interfere with survival and reproduction.

show abstract

“…Additionally, HM bioaccumulation in plants may also affect interactions with their pollinators, since HM can transfer to nectar, a fact that alters pollinators feeding patterns, suggesting that metals and metalloids such as Se found in pollen and nectar affect negatively the pollinators, which results in changes in plant communities due to the nonappearance of pollinators on such plants [74][75][76][77].…”

Section: Heavy Metalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy Metal Pollution as a Biodiversity Threat

Tovar-Sánchez¹,

Hernández-Plata²,

Santoyo-Martínez³

et al. 2018

Heavy Metals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heavy metals exert their toxic effects through different mechanisms. Lately, increasing attention has been focused on understanding the long-term ecological effects of chronically exposed populations and communities and their consequences to the ecosystem. The long-term exposure to heavy metals in the environment represents a threat to wild populations, affecting communities and putting ecosystem integrity at risk. Therefore, this type of exposure represents a threat to biodiversity. In the field, metal exposure is generally characterized by low doses and chronic exposures. This type of exposure exerts alterations across levels of biological organization. Distribution and abundance of populations, the community structure and the ecosystem dynamics may be altered. This chapter will focus on how chronically metal exposures in the field affect negatively populations and communities becoming a threat to biodiversity. Also, attention is put on the tools that enable to characterize and analyze the detrimental effects of heavy metal exposure on wild populations. Hence, the use and development of biomarkers in ecotoxicology will be discussed.

show abstract

The effects of aluminum and nickel in nectar on the foraging behavior of bumblebees

Cited by 68 publications

References 26 publications

Potential of Eucalyptus camaldulensis for phytostabilization and biomonitoring of trace-element contaminated soils

Potential of Eucalyptus camaldulensis for phytostabilization and biomonitoring of trace-element contaminated soils

Nickel accumulation in leaves, floral organs and rewards varies by serpentine soil affinity

Heavy Metal Pollution as a Biodiversity Threat

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About