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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Pest Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #416987

Research Project: Biological Control and Habitat Restoration for Invasive Weed Management

Location: Pest Management Research

Title: Avenues towards reconciling wild and managed bee proponents

Author
item BEAUREPAIRE, ALEXIS - University Of Adelaide
item HOGENDOORN, KATJA - Wageningen Agricultural University
item KLEIJN, DAVID - Wageningen Agricultural University
item OTIS, GARD - University Of Bern
item POTTS, SIMON - University Of Reading
item SINGER, THERESA - Utah State University
item BOFF, SAMUEL - Ulm University
item PIRK, CHRISTIAN - University Of Pretoria
item SETTELE, JOSEF - University Of The Philippines
item PAXTON, ROBERT - Martin Luther University
item RAINE, NIGEL - University Of Guelph
item TOSI, SIMON - University Of Turin
item WILLIAMS, NEAL - University Of California, Davis
item KLEIN, ALEXANDRA-MARIA - University Of Freiburg
item LE CONTE, YVES - Inrae
item Campbell, Joshua
item WILLIAMS, GEOFFREY - Auburn University
item MARINI, LORENZO - Universita Di Padova
item BROCKMANN, AXEL - The Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research
item SGOLASTRA, FABIO - Universita Di Bologna
item BOYLE, NATALIE - Pennsylvania State University
item NEUDITSCHKO, MARKUS - Agroscope
item STRAUB, LARS - University Of Bern
item NEUMANN, PETER - University Of Bern
item CHARRIERE, JEAN-DANIEL - Agroscope
item ALBRECHT, MATTHIAS - Agroscope
item DIETEMANN, VINCENT - University Of Lausanne

Submitted to: Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2024
Publication Date: 12/6/2024
Citation: Beaurepaire, A.L., Hogendoorn, K., Kleijn, D., Otis, G.W., Potts, S.G., Singer, T.L., Boff, S., Pirk, C., Settele, J., Paxton, R.J., Raine, N.E., Tosi, S., Williams, N., Klein, A., Le Conte, Y., Campbell, J.W., Williams, G.R., Marini, L., Brockmann, A., Sgolastra, F., Boyle, N., Neuditschko, M., Straub, L., Neumann, P., Charriere, J., Albrecht, M., Dietemann, V. 2024. Avenues towards reconciling wild and managed bee proponents . Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Volume 40, Issue 1, Pages 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.11.009.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.11.009

Interpretive Summary: In recent decades, pollinators have been in decline both in abundance and diversity. One cause of decline is due to competition for resources and disease transmission between managed and wild bees. A need for more investigative research into these interactions and causes of declines are greatly needed in order to develop solutions that can be implemented. Thus, the multiple stakeholders involved will need to work together to create collaborations to help fill knowledge gaps and create solutions.

Technical Abstract: Pollinators are crucial for ecosystem functioning, biodiversity conservation, food security and human well-being. The need to mitigate pollinator decline and promote the pollination services they deliver requires appropriate policies across multiple sectors. Among the suspected causes of their decline, resource competition and pathogen transmission between managed and wild bees are of major concern to stakeholders. These concerns increasingly can generate conflict among bee keepers, farmers, conservationists and scientists. We argue that the current scientific knowledge of potential negative impacts of these interactions on wild bees is insufficient to resolve the conflicts through contextualised, evidence-based policies. Existing studies of these interactions are limited in space and time, and typically do not consider the effects of managed bees on wild bee population sizes and genetic diversity, both of which are key to assessing long-term impacts. Potential negative interactions between managed and wild bees also need to be weighed against other stressors affecting bees. To prioritise mitigation efforts, we advocate increased communication and collaboration between stakeholders to fill knowledge gaps and co-create contextually relevant policies that integrate ecological and socioeconomic dimension.