Lethal and sublethal effects of toxicants on bumble bee populations: a modelling approach.

ABSTRACT: Pollinator decline worldwide is well-documented; globally, chemical pesticides (especially the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids) have been implicated in hymenopteran decline, but the mechanics and drivers of population trends and dynamics of wild bees is poorly understood. Declines and shifts in community composition of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have been documented in North America and Europe, with a suite of lethal and sub-lethal effects of pesticides on bumble bee populations documented. We employ a mathematical model parameterized with values taken from the literature that uses differential equations to track bumble bee populations through time in order to attain a better understanding of toxicant effects on a developing colony of bumble bees. We use a delay differential equ

SUBMITTER: Banks JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7103009 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature