Emerging viral disease risk to pollinating insects: ecological, evolutionary and anthropogenic factors.

ABSTRACT: The potential for infectious pathogens to spillover and emerge from managed populations to wildlife communities is poorly understood, but ecological, evolutionary and anthropogenic factors are all likely to influence the initial exposure and subsequent infection, spread and impact of disease. Fast-evolving RNA viruses, known to cause severe colony losses in managed honeybee populations, deserve particular attention for their propensity to jump between host species and thus threaten ecologically and economically important wild pollinator communities. We review the literature on pollinator viruses to identify biological and anthropogenic drivers of disease emergence, highlight gaps in the literature, and discuss potential management strategies. We provide evidence that many wild pollinator s

SUBMITTER: Manley R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4415536 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature