(TheRedAlertNews.com) – In what may end up being a vital conclusion, the pervasive application of pesticides may be contributing to a marked decrease in wild bee populations, as identified in a recent study.
The research, published in Nature Sustainability on Tuesday, points out that the global decline in bee populations can be attributed, in part, to the escalated use of two specific pesticides, which have had a pronounced impact on bee demographics.
The study highlights neonicotinoid and pyrethroid as the key agents behind “a major driver of changes in occupancy across hundreds of wild bee species,” as stated by the researchers.
It is reported that the extensive use of these pesticides has led to a significant 43.3 percent reduction in the likelihood of certain bee species inhabiting specific areas.
To formulate their conclusions, researchers from the University of Southern California led an exhaustive review of museum records, ecological surveys, and community science data spanning from 1996 to 2015 across the contiguous United States.
They examined over 200,000 unique observations of more than 1,000 bee species, which represent roughly a third of all known U.S. bee species, to assess the distribution patterns of these species.
Alongside these evaluations, the team also analyzed data regarding agricultural practices, including crop cover types and pesticide applications at the county level.
The study found a clear correlation.
“Across the contiguous United States, we found that higher pesticide use resulted in lower occupancy of wild bees,” the researchers reported.
“The negative effect of pesticide use was consistent across all five families of bees,” they noted.
These findings underscore the necessity for alternative pest control methods.
The study advocates for integrated pest management strategies, which involve the use of natural predators, preemptive measures to curb pest establishment, and the use of physical barriers and traps.
This study builds upon prior research by the same team, which criticized the current methodology used in ecological risk assessments concerning pesticides and bee health.
These assessments often rely on honeybees—a species not native to many environments—as a surrogate for all bees, thus grossly underestimating the risks posed to native bee populations by up to a millionfold.
“When we only focus on the western honeybee, we’re ignoring the unique responses of other wild bee species to pesticide exposure,” stated Laura Melissa Guzman, lead author and assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California.
“More data and analysis on the long-term effects of pesticides will help guide these efforts to the benefit of all pollinators, including wild bees,” she concluded.
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