July 9, 2015

expert reaction to study investigating climate change and bumblebee geographical ranges

The pollination of a large proportion of the world’s plants is attributed to bee species, and alterations in the geographical habitats of bumblebees is the focus of a paper published in the journal Science. The authors report differing patterns in terms of the shifting limits of habitat location, including the loss of ranges from southern extremes and movement to higher elevations among southern species.

Dr Aldina Franco, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, said:

“Similarly to what is happening to habitat specialist butterflies, bumblebees are contracting their ranges, disappearing from sites at the warm range margin and not being able to colonise new areas at the cooler range margin of their distributions. Bumblebees are important species because they are pollinators and provide important ecosystem services for humans. There is a pressing need to identify strategies to prevent the joint detrimental effects of climate change and habitat fragmentation on biodiversity to guarantee that our essential pollinators can thrive.”

Dr Nathalie Pettorelli, Research Fellow, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), said:

“I believe this macroecological study is robust – and triggers a new set of questions in terms of wildlife’s response to climate change. I think it’s important to remember that this type of correlative approach is aimed at unveiling large scale patterns in species’ response to climate change, and that it needs to be followed by new process-based research.

“Kerr et al show that bumblebees generally fail to track warming in both Europe and North America: the next step is to understand why. Without this knowledge, efficient mitigation strategies are difficult to identify. I would also add that there seem to be some interesting level of variation in bumblebee species’ response to changes in climatic conditions, something that isn’t discussed in the paper. This level of inter-specific variability might be important to consider when thinking about mitigation strategies, as one solution might not fit all.”

Mr Norman Carreck, Science Director, International Bee Research Association, University of Sussex, said:

“Hitherto, I think among the many other factors that are believed to contribute to the decline of pollinator populations, scientists have been fairly relaxed about the effects of climate change, arguing that since pollinators can fly, if confronted by changing and hostile conditions, they would simply move to more suitable conditions, perhaps shifting northwards. However, this paper reveals that the true picture is more complex, and that this does not appear to be happening. Being temperate species, bumble bees are especially vulnerable to increased temperatures. This is thus an important paper, which highlights areas for future research.”

Prof. David Goulson, Professor of Biology (Evolution, Behaviour and Environment), University of Sussex, said:

“This study looks to be solid, based as it is on a huge data set. The results aren’t entirely surprising – we know that bumblebees thrive in cool climates, so we’d expect them to be adversely impacted by climate change, particularly in the southern margins of their range, but nonetheless this is the first clear evidence that this is happening across many species and across huge geographic scales. What is more surprising is that they do not seem to be expanding northwards, perhaps because suitable habitat is not available to the north of their existing ranges.

“Previously, attention on bee declines has focussed on habitat loss, pesticide use and the spread of bee parasites. This study shows that a different factor – climate change – is also beginning to take its toll. Taking this study together with previous evidence suggests it is likely that the combined stresses from all of these pressures will have devastating impacts on bumblebees in the not-too-distant future.

“The paper suggests that northward translocations of bumblebees may help – I am not convinced by this, since bumblebees are pretty mobile creatures – I think it is likely that they could move northwards on their own if suitable habitat were available to move in to.”

Professor Nigel Raine, Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation at the University of Guelph in Canada, said:

“Bumblebees are critical pollinators of many crops and wild flowers, so it is very concerning that they are struggling to adapt to climate change around the world. We urgently need to understand how other pollinators critical for fruit and vegetable production are being affected by climate change.”

“Climate change appears to be driving the ranges of most species towards the poles. Bumblebees don’t seem to be responding in the same way – instead of simply moving northwards the areas of land occupied by these pollinators are shrinking as they lose ground on the southern-most edges of their range. If these patterns don’t change it’s a question of when, not if, we lose these charismatic and essential bees.”

‘Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents’ by Jeremy T. Kerr et al. published in Science on Thursday 9 July 2015. 

Declared interests

Dr Aldina Franco: none received.

Dr Nathalie Pettorelli: “I don’t think I have any conflict of interest to report. I’m an ecologist working at the Institute of Zoology, on issues that include climate change impact assessments and mitigation.”

Mr Norman Carreck and Prof. David Goulson declare no interests.

Prof. Nigel Raine:

Current Positions

Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation, University of Guelph, Canada: 2014-present. Salaried position.

Visiting Professor in Ecology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK: 2014-2017. Unpaid position.

Current Research Funding

NSERC, Canada: 2015-2019. Project title: The impacts of multiple environmental stressors on native bee populations

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, Canada: 2014-2019. Research funds for endowed chair position

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), Canada: 2015-2016. Project title: Current status of

honeybee and wild pollinator health in Ontario

NERC, UK: 2014-2017. Project title: Behavioural and molecular responses to pesticide exposure in bumblebees

BBSRC, DEFRA, NERC, Scottish Government & Wellcome Trust, UK: 2010-2015. Project title: An investigation into the

synergistic impact of sublethal exposure to industrial chemicals on the learning capacity and performance of bees

Advisory roles

All Party Parliamentary Group on Agroecology, UK: Ad hoc Advisor.

COLOSS (Prevention of honeybee COlony LOSSes) network: Invited expert member, current.

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA): Ad hoc Advisor.

Home Depot Canada: Ad hoc Advisor.

International Bee Research Association (IBRA): Council member, current.

Loblaw Inc. (Canada): Ad hoc advisor.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA): Ad hoc Advisor.

Pest Management Regulatory Agency (Canada): Ad hoc Advisor.

Pollinator Conservation Delivery Group (UK): Invited expert member, current.

UK Advisory Committee on Pesticides: Ad hoc Advisor.

U.S. Department of Agriculture: Ad hoc advisor

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Ad hoc Advisor

Professional Society Membership

British Ecological Society (BES): member. Current.

Entomological Society of America: member. Current.

European Association for Bee Research (EurBee): member.

International Bee Research Association (IBRA): council member. Current.

International Committee of Plant Pollinator Relationships (ICPPR): member. Current.

International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI): member. Current.

Linnean Society of London: Fellow. Current.

Royal Entomological Society (RES): Fellow. Current.