Woodlands and hedgerows crucial for Welsh pollinators. Bee-harming pesticides exported from EU despite ban. Spring forest bees get their due. Enviro groups slowly diversify but funding gaps remain.
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Conservation
Woodland and hedgerow creation can play crucial role in action to reverse declines in pollinators
(Phys.org, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) The largest survey of pollinator abundance in Wales has found that woodland and hedgerow creation can play a crucial role in action to reverse declines in insects that are essential for crop yield and other wildlife. Until now, there have been surprisingly limited scientific data about pollinators in Wales when compared to the rest of the UK. However, a major new study of hundreds of different sites has revealed the types of habitats where pollinating bees, hoverflies and butterflies are most abundant.
After record low, monarch butterflies return to California
(AP) There is a ray of hope for the vanishing orange-and-black Western monarch butterflies. The number wintering along California’s central coast is bouncing back after the population, whose presence is often a good indicator of ecosystem health, reached an all-time low last year. Experts pin their decline on climate change, habitat destruction and lack of food due to drought. This year’s official count started Saturday and will last three weeks but already an unofficial count by researchers and volunteers shows there are over 50,000 monarchs at overwintering sites – compared to the fewer than 2,000 butterflies recorded last year. “This is certainly not a recovery but we’re really optimistic and just really glad that there are monarchs here and that gives us a bit of time to work toward recovery of the Western monarch migration.”
Governor Pritzker talks about prairies during visit to northern Illinois
(Northern Public Radio) Illinois Governor JB Pritzker weighed in on a controversial plan to expand the Chicago-Rockford International Airport over some of the state’s last remaining high-quality prairie – a location where the endangered rusty patched bumble bee was observed this past summer. Environmental advocates have called for the facility to go back to the drawing board on a construction plan that would expand over the Bell Bowl Prairie. The Airport Authority recently halted construction over the site, pending a review by federal agencies. Pritzker says it’s important for both sides of the discussion to reach a resolution together. “I really believe that as we fight for our climate, our environment. As we protect our environment, that we can also do so while creating jobs that we don't need to have a trade-off here.”
Economics
Thousands of bees make it out alive after being buried by La Palma volcano ash for 50 days
(National Post) Like an enforced hibernation, many of the beehives on La Palma in the Canary Islands were buried under volcanic ash after the Cumbre Vieja erupted in late September. These six hives were situated just 600 meters from the volcano. When they were finally dug out from under a meter of ash on Nov. 6, rescuers – who suffered a sting here and there – found that five of the six hives had survived, with hundreds of thousands of bees undoubtedly happy to see blue skies again. They had sealed themselves in by creating propolis, a resinous material with which they plugged any gaps, and were able to survive on their food reserves, as the owner had not yet collected the summer honey.
Bee superfood: Exploring honey’s chemical complexities
(NPR, podcast) Honey bees know a lot about honey, and humans are starting to catch up. Scientists are now looking at how the chemicals in honey affect bee health: the chemical complexities, how it helps keep honey bees resilient, and what role it may play in saving the bees.
Policy/Law
Bee-harming pesticides exported from EU despite ban on outdoor use
(The Guardian) Thousands of tonnes of pesticides that seriously harm bees are being exported from the EU despite a ban on their outdoor use within the bloc. Data obtained by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace, and Swiss NGO Public Eye shows that 3,900 tonnes of banned neonicotinoid pesticides were destined to leave the EU and UK for low- and middle-income nations with weaker environmental regulations in the three months after the ban came into force.
Responding to the US national pollinator plan: a case study in Michigan
(Twitter, Elias H. Bloom @susta1nabeelity) “Are the US goals for pollinator health being reached? Not yet! ... my coauthors and I from @MSUEntomology highlight efforts in MI and nationally to reach the targets set by the @WhiteHouse @USDA @EPA task force.” Original paper
Science
In a new study, spring forest bees get their due
(Entomology Today) Temperate forests in the eastern United States come to life in April and May with colorful blankets of wildflowers, birds singing from newly leafing tree branches, and plenty of insect activity. That includes one greatly understudied group of native insects: the forest-living bees. A new study, however, is shedding much-needed light on the ecology of these often small but busy bees that do much of the spring pollination work in woodlands. The study identified more than three dozen bee species that live within forests and, in some cases, rarely leave. “It’s not like spring-flying bees are a new discovery. Any good field insect naturalist knows that there are a lot of spring-flying bees in forests, but they had just never been studied ecologically like this.”
Evidence that glyphosate does not cause mortality in bumble bees
(Phys.org, Pensoft Publishers) Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in the world, and is widely used in agriculture. While glyphosate has been deemed 'bee-safe' by regulators, some emerging evidence studies suggest that it has negative effects on bees. A new study examines the impact of glyphosate on a previously untested species, the buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, and incorporates a bee parasite, Crithidia bombi, that has never before been tested alongside glyphosate. By using several different research methods from the field of ecotoxicology, the authors observed that there was no significant effect on bee mortality when bees were exposed to glyphosate, the bee parasite, or both stressors together. In addition, no significant effect was observed for reproduction or sucrose consumption.
Who observes the observers? Scientists conduct large-scale study of iNaturalist users
(Florida Museum of Natural History) Scientists analyzed more than 31 million iNaturalist records in a new study to find out who most often uses the popular nature app and what types of observations they submit. iNaturalist allows anyone with a phone or camera and an Internet connection to upload and identify photos of plants and animals anywhere in the world. By examining all available iNaturalist observations from its launch in 2008 through 2019, a team of researchers found users were most active on weekends during the spring and summer months, often in or around urban areas. This was reflected in the types of animals and plants they captured. (Editor’s note: This article is from September. I just happened to come across it this week.)
Society/Culture
Enviro groups slowly diversify but funding gaps remain
(E&E Greenwire) Green 2.0, a nonprofit dedicated to equity in the environmental arena, found that major groups increased the percentage of people of color on their full-time staff and boards from 2020 to 2021. But it also emphasized that the percentage of full-time people of color on staff – nearly 30 percent – still trails the U.S. population at large, noting that the next generation – those under 16 years old now – are less than 50 percent white. And it found widespread discrepancies in how major foundations dole out grants in the environmental and climate arenas.
York U researcher wins prestigious E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship for work with bees
(York U) Wild bees have a critical role to play in climate change resilience, which makes finding out why they are declining more important. As a winner of this year’s NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, York University Associate Professor Sandra Rehan is tackling this issue through her work in bee genomics, molecular ecology and behavioral genetics.
How a German gardener is using old gumball machines to revitalize bee habitats
(Washington Post) Eco-gardener and entrepreneur Sebastian Everding reimagined a gumball machine that would deliver capsules of wildflower seeds, which passersby could use to create bee habitats in their neighborhoods. His experiment has now grown to more than 160 dispensers across Germany, Austria and Belgium in places such as libraries and train station kiosks, energy service centers and veterinarian offices. “The vending machine alone cannot stop the problems with the wild bees. But we hope the project changes awareness of the population.”
One More Thing…
I hate glitter. Always have, ever since pre-school. But this is good news – as long as it doesn’t mean more glitter in the world.
This eco-friendly glitter gets its color from plants, not plastic
(Science News) “All that glitters is not green. Glitter and shimmery pigments are often made using toxic compounds or pollutive microplastics. That makes the sparkly stuff, notoriously difficult to clean up in the house, a scourge on the environment too. A new, nontoxic, biodegradable alternative could change that. In the material, cellulose – the main building block of plant cell walls – creates nanoscale patterns that give rise to vibrant structural colors. Such a material could be used to make eco-friendly glitter and shiny pigments for paints, cosmetics or packaging.”
