Does pathogen spillover from commercially reared bumble bees threaten wild pollinators?

ABSTRACT: The conservation of insect pollinators is drawing attention because of reported declines in bee species and the 'ecosystem services' they provide. This issue has been brought to a head by recent devastating losses of honey bees throughout North America (so called, 'Colony Collapse Disorder'); yet, we still have little understanding of the cause(s) of bee declines. Wild bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have also suffered serious declines and circumstantial evidence suggests that pathogen 'spillover' from commercially reared bumble bees, which are used extensively to pollinate greenhouse crops, is a possible cause. We constructed a spatially explicit model of pathogen spillover in bumble bees and, using laboratory experiments and the literature, estimated parameter values for the spillover of Crith

SUBMITTER: Otterstatter MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2464710 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature