Start Date

29-8-2017 12:00 PM

End Date

29-8-2017 1:15 PM

Description

Abstract.

There are concerns that the fitness of bumble bees that provide pollination services to cranberry could suffer within intensively managed agricultural lands. In the cranberry region of Massachusetts, the crop occurs within urbanized coastal and sand plains that generally lack floral resources. Additional stressors that compromise the health of bumble bee colonies could be the reduction of habitat and infections by parasites. In contrast to the lack of floral resources in the region, the mass bloom of managed cranberry provides abundant floral resources around July. We examined the prevalence and intensity of pathogen infection in bumble bees collected across areas of varying cranberry bloom. To determine how the amount of cranberry acreage affects the prevalence of these parasites, bumble bee queens and workers of multiple Bombus spp. were assessed for parasite presence and load. The amount of cranberry bog within 2 km of each collected bee was calculated and included in a model testing its effect on parasite prevalence and intensity. Initial investigations appeared to show higher prevalence and intensity of the trypanosome Crithidia bombi in areas with little to no acreage of cranberry bog in comparison to areas with higher acreage of cranberry. This did not hold true for Nosema bombi, Apicystis bombi, and parasitism by conopid flies. We speculate on the reasons behind our findings, including the potential effects of fungicide use and phytochemicals on the health of bumble bees.

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Aug 29th, 12:00 PM Aug 29th, 1:15 PM

Regional and temporal parasite loads in bumble bees associated with cranberry landscapes

Abstract.

There are concerns that the fitness of bumble bees that provide pollination services to cranberry could suffer within intensively managed agricultural lands. In the cranberry region of Massachusetts, the crop occurs within urbanized coastal and sand plains that generally lack floral resources. Additional stressors that compromise the health of bumble bee colonies could be the reduction of habitat and infections by parasites. In contrast to the lack of floral resources in the region, the mass bloom of managed cranberry provides abundant floral resources around July. We examined the prevalence and intensity of pathogen infection in bumble bees collected across areas of varying cranberry bloom. To determine how the amount of cranberry acreage affects the prevalence of these parasites, bumble bee queens and workers of multiple Bombus spp. were assessed for parasite presence and load. The amount of cranberry bog within 2 km of each collected bee was calculated and included in a model testing its effect on parasite prevalence and intensity. Initial investigations appeared to show higher prevalence and intensity of the trypanosome Crithidia bombi in areas with little to no acreage of cranberry bog in comparison to areas with higher acreage of cranberry. This did not hold true for Nosema bombi, Apicystis bombi, and parasitism by conopid flies. We speculate on the reasons behind our findings, including the potential effects of fungicide use and phytochemicals on the health of bumble bees.