Nacho Bartomeus - nacho.bartomeus@gmail.com - @ibartomeus

Native bees in a changing world

Honeybee

Honeybee

Honey

Honeybee

Honey Sting

There are more than 20.000 bee species world wide

>4000 in the USA >400 in the NJ

What makes a bee a bee?

What makes a bee a bee?

Vegetarian

Furry

Colletes sp

Insects: Hymenopterans: bees

Adult

Life cycle of a solitary bee

spring

Adult

NestLife cycle

summer-autumn-winter

spring

Adult

NestLife cycle

Larva

summer-autumn-winter

spring

Adult

MatingNestLife cycle

Larva

summer-autumn-winter

spring

Why are bees so important

All species are important per se

+ for plants: 85% of world plants are to some degree pollinated by bees (Ollerton et al 2011)

+ for agriculture: 76% of crops are bee dependent (Klein et al 2007)

Other pollinators

Beetles Flies Bees Butterflies Birds

The usual suspects

0cm

2cm

4cm

8cm

10cm

Other pollinators

Beetles Flies Bees Butterflies Birds

The usual suspects

0cm

2cm

4cm

8cm

10cm

& even Lizards... as long as they carry pollen

& Bats,

Back to the bees importance for agriculture:

Not native (need to be managed)Not perfect Problems associated

Honeybee

CCDAfricanized Honeybee

Diseases (Varroa mites)

Not native (need to be managed)Not perfect Problems associated

Honeybee

“Sweat bees, giving free tomato buzz pollination since ever”

CCDAfricanized Honeybee

Diseases (Varroa mites)

Back to the bees importance for agriculture:

What about natives bees?

Don’t need to manage (almost)

Give a stable pollination service (Winfree & Kremen 2009)

Don’t sting (almost)Generally good pollinators

bee 2bee1bee 4 bee 3

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Flowering

CCDA syndrome, not a disease

Transportation & nutritionDomestication associated problems

Nosema fungi & IAP virusVarroa mitesPesticides?

But is not because of:Cell phonesGMO

Are natives doing well in this days?

Well... bees are difficult to research:

Are natives doing well in this days?

Well... bees are difficult to research:

short lived

mobile

small

What about its importance as pollinators?

Natives bees are doing well in NJ Winfree et al 2007

>

But not in extensive monocultures crops

Why not?

Flowers bloom for a short period of timeNo nesting sites: bees need both, flowers, and nests!

Insecticides?

What about its importance as pollinators?

Good practices:

Flowering along all seasonNest sites

Small plots

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

Crop

And their populations?

Some Bumblebees are declining:

Illinois: 4 sp locally extirpated4 sp decreased

Gritxi et al 2009

Few winers, many loosers?

Ontario: 7 sp declining; 2 sp increasing Colla & Parcker 2008

Cameron et al 2011

NY & NJ

And their populations?

Some Bumblebees are declining:

Nosema bombii fungiIntroduction of

Bombus affinis

And their populations?

Other bees and syrphids: Britain and netherlands:

And their populations?

Land useGlobal change:

Effect of human disturbance on bee abundance

Winfree et al. 2009, Ecology!

(Fedridge et al 2008)

Natural HabitatBlack Rock Forest: ~176 sp

Land useGlobal change:

Suburban HabitatGardens: ~145 sp

(Fedridge et al 2008)

Land useGlobal change:

Natural HabitatBlack Rock Forest: ~176 sp

Suburban HabitatGardens: ~145 sp

NY CityCommunity gardens: ~60 sp

(Matteson et al 2007)

Land useGlobal change:

Natural HabitatBlack Rock Forest: ~176 sp

02

46

810

Exotic species,replacement

time period

num

ber o

f spe

cies

05

1015

Exotic species, replacement

time period

num

ber o

f rec

ords

02

46

810

Exotic species,replacement

time period

num

ber o

f spe

cies

05

1015

Exotic species, replacement

time period

num

ber o

f rec

ords

Alien speciesGlobal change:

Time Time

Abundance of Alien speciesNumber of Alien species

Suburban HabitatGardens: ~145 sp

(6% alien)

NY CityCommunity gardens: ~ 60 sp

(19% alien)

Alien speciesGlobal change:

Natural HabitatBlack Rock Forest: ~176 sp

(4% alien)

days

from

1 Ja

nuar

y

Phenology

ClimateGlobal change: (Bartomeus et al 2011)

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from

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yClimateGlobal change:

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yClimateGlobal change:

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from

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yClimateGlobal change:

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Year

Tem

pera

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Time

ClimateGlobal change:

Year

Tem

pera

ture

Mean April Temperature

days

from

1 Ja

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from

1 Ja

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Year

Tem

pera

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-Day of collection

ClimateGlobal change:

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from

1 Ja

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Year

Tem

pera

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from

1 Ja

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Year

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pera

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{

~10 days of mean advance

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from

1 Ja

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Year

Tem

pera

ture

{

most dramatic advance in the last 40 years

{

ClimateLand use

Invasive species

Main drivers of Global change:

Chemicals

Conclusions

If we take a little care on them, we can relay on bees for pollinating “our” plants

more info:http://winfreelab.rutgers.edu/

http://www.xerces.org/

http://greatpollinatorproject.org/

Thank you