First study showing pesticide exposure can affect crop pollination by bees For the first time a

First study showing pesticide exposure can affect crop pollination by bees 

For the first time an international team of researchers have shown that pesticides impair the pollination services provided by bumblebees.

Bees play a vital role in pollinating some of the most important food crops globally and have been declining in recent years. Until now research on pesticide effects has been limited to their impact on bees, rather than the pollination services they provide.

The study discovered that bumblebees exposed to a realistic level of neonicotinoid pesticides found in agricultural environments collected pollen from apple trees less often and visited flowers less frequently.

The findings of this study have important implications for both society and the economy, as insect pollination services to crops are worth at least $361Bn worldwide every year, and are vital to the functioning of natural ecosystem.  

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Image credits: Victoria Wickens, Dara Stanley, Dara Stanley