Impact of controlled neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees in a realistic field setting

Pesticide exposure has been implicated as a contributor to insect pollinator declines. In social bees, which are crucial pollination service providers, the effect of low-level chronic exposure is typically non-lethal leading researchers to consider whether exposure induces sublethal effects on behaviour and whether such impairment can affect colony development. Studies under laboratory conditions can control levels of pesticide exposure and elucidate causative effects, but are often criticized for being unrealistic. In contrast, field studies can monitor bee responses under a more realistic pesticide exposure landscape; yet typically such findings are limited to correlative results and can lack true controls or sufficient replication. We attempt to bridge this gap by exposing bumblebees to known amounts of pesticides when colonies are placed in the field. Using 20 bumblebee colonies, we assess the consequences of exposure to the neonicotinoid clothianidin, provided in sucrose at a con...农药暴露被认为是导致昆虫传粉者种群衰退的重要诱因之一。作为关键传粉服务提供者的社会性蜜蜂，其在低剂量长期暴露下的效应通常为非致死性，这促使研究者们探讨此类暴露是否会引发行为层面的亚致死效应，以及这类功能损伤是否会影响蜂群发育。 实验室条件下的研究可精准控制农药暴露水平并阐明因果效应，但常因脱离实际情境而受到诟病。与之相对，野外研究可在更贴近真实的农药暴露场景下监测蜜蜂的响应，然而此类研究结果通常仅局限于相关性分析，且往往缺乏真正的对照组或足够的重复样本。本研究通过在蜂群置于野外时，让熊蜂暴露于已知剂量的农药中，试图填补这一研究空白。 本研究共使用20个熊蜂蜂群，评估暴露于以蔗糖溶液配制的新烟碱类噻虫嗪（neonicotinoid clothianidin）所产生的效应，其暴露浓度为……