Bumblebees have become flag-bearers for insect conservation. Their role as pollinators makes them a key ecosystem service provider, their global declines make them an exemplar of insect declines more broadly, and research to understand and reverse these declines shows us how to produce a better future for insects as a whole. In this talk I will start by introducing bumblebees and their biology, before presenting a series of related research projects from our group that aim to understand and reverse the declines of bumblebees populations.
First I will show how, using museum collections and historical records, we can assess and understand the historical and ongoing declines of bumblebees. Agricultural intensification, particularly the use of pesticides, has been suggested as a major driver of insect declines. I will present studies from my group that demonstrate the impacts of pesticides on bumblebee health, why these are not captured by the risk assessment process, and how we can change policy and practice to make agricultural landscapes a healthier landscape for bumblebees. Pathogen spillover via shared floral resources from managed bees to wild bees is a more recently identified threat to bumblebees. I will present a series of studies from our group that demonstrate this spillover, and discuss how such spillover can be minimised and prevented. As well as being the locus for pathogen transfer, flowers might also act as a natural pharmacy for bumblebees. I will discuss pioneering work in our group that has identified the value of chemicals in floral nectar as anti-parasitic compounds, from in vitro to landscape-studies. I will conclude by looking at how we need to support bumblebees in the future against a background of global climate change.
Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology and Director of the University Museum of Zoology
The entrance to the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry can be found at the side of the Scott Polar Research Institute, opposite the boat. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre is located directly in the entrance as you enter the building.
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