| Title |
Risk assessment for side-effects of neonicotinoids against bumblebees with and without impairing foraging behavior
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Ecotoxicology, September 2009
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10646-009-0406-2 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Veerle Mommaerts, Sofie Reynders, Jana Boulet, Linde Besard, Guido Sterk, Guy Smagghe |
| Abstract |
Bombus terrestris bumblebees are important pollinators of wild flowers, and in modern agriculture they are used to guarantee pollination of vegetables and fruits. In the field it is likely that worker bees are exposed to pesticides during foraging. To date, several tests exist to assess lethal and sublethal side-effects of pesticides on bee survival, growth/development and reproduction. Within the context of ecotoxicology and insect physiology, we report the development of a new bioassay to assess the impact of sublethal concentrations on the bumblebee foraging behavior under laboratory conditions. In brief, the experimental setup of this behavior test consists of two artificial nests connected with a tube of about 20 cm and use of queenless micro-colonies of 5 workers. In one nest the worker bees constructed brood, and in the other food (sugar and pollen) was provided. Before exposure, the worker bees were allowed a training to forage for untreated food; afterwards this was replaced by treated food. Using this setup we investigated the effects of sublethal concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid, known to negatively affect the foraging behavior of bees. For comparison within the family of neonicotinoid insecticides, we also tested different concentrations of two other neonicotinoids: thiamethoxam and thiacloprid, in the laboratory with the new bioassay. Finally to evaluate the new bioassay, we also tested sublethal concentrations of imidacloprid in the greenhouse with use of queenright colonies of B. terrestris, and here worker bees needed to forage/fly for food that was placed at a distance of 3 m from their hives. In general, the experiments showed that concentrations that may be considered safe for bumblebees can have a negative influence on their foraging behavior. Therefore it is recommended that behavior tests should be included in risk assessment tests for highly toxic pesticides because impairment of the foraging behavior can result in a decreased pollination, lower reproduction and finally in colony mortality due to a lack of food. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 370 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 4 | 1% |
| United States | 4 | 1% |
| Brazil | 2 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| Norway | 1 | <1% |
| France | 1 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
| Israel | 1 | <1% |
| Denmark | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 352 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 69 | 19% |
| Student > Bachelor | 61 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 60 | 16% |
| Researcher | 42 | 11% |
| Other | 15 | 4% |
| Other | 58 | 16% |
| Unknown | 65 | 18% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 201 | 54% |
| Environmental Science | 48 | 13% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 11 | 3% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 2% |
| Chemistry | 7 | 2% |
| Other | 26 | 7% |
| Unknown | 70 | 19% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. 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 31 October 2022.
All research outputs
#4,888,383
of 23,515,785 outputs
Outputs from Ecotoxicology
#148
of 1,493 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#18,669
of 93,783 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Ecotoxicology
#3
of 6 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,515,785 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 76th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,493 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.5. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% 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 93,783 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 6 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 3 of them.