| Title |
Herbivore Defence Compounds Occur in Pollen and Reduce Bumblebee Colony Fitness
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Chemical Ecology, June 2014
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10886-014-0467-4 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Sarah E. J. Arnold, M. Eduardo Peralta Idrovo, Luis J. Lomas Arias, Steven R. Belmain, Philip C. Stevenson |
| Abstract |
Herbivory defence chemicals in plants can affect higher trophic levels such as predators and parasitoids, but the impact on pollinators has been overlooked. We show that defensive plant chemicals can damage pollinator fitness when expressed in pollen. Crop lupins (Lupinus species from Europe and South America) accumulate toxic quinolizidine alkaloids in vegetative tissues, conferring resistance to herbivorous pests such as aphids. We identified the alkaloid lupanine and its derivatives in lupin pollen, and then provided this compound at ecologically-relevant concentrations to queenless microcolonies of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) in their pollen to determine how foraging on these crops may impact bee colony health and fitness. Fewer males were produced by microcolonies provided with lupanine-treated pollen and they were significantly smaller than controls. This impact on males was not linked to preference as workers willingly fed lupanine-treated pollen to larvae, even though it was deleterious to colony health. Agricultural systems comprising large monocultures of crops bred for herbivore resistance can expose generalist pollinators to deleterious levels of plant compounds, and the broader environmental impacts of crop resistance must thus be considered. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 8 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 5 | 63% |
| Unknown | 3 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Scientists | 4 | 50% |
| Members of the public | 4 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 123 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 121 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 23 | 19% |
| Researcher | 19 | 15% |
| Student > Master | 18 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 11 | 9% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 5 | 4% |
| Other | 15 | 12% |
| Unknown | 32 | 26% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 62 | 50% |
| Environmental Science | 14 | 11% |
| Chemistry | 3 | 2% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 2% |
| Chemical Engineering | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 2 | 2% |
| Unknown | 39 | 32% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 January 2021.
All research outputs
#7,361,161
of 25,837,817 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#573
of 2,229 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#65,690
of 244,845 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#2
of 27 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,837,817 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 71st percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,229 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 244,845 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 27 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its contemporaries.