Critical links between biodiversity and health in wild bee conservation. (April 2022) - Parreño, M.A.
Abstract : Wild bee populations are declining due to human activities, such as land use change, which strongly affect the composition and diversity of available plants and food sources. The chemical composition of food (i.e., nutrition) in turn determines the health, resilience, and fitness of bees. For pollinators, however, the term 'health' is recent and is subject to debate, as is the interaction between nutrition and wild bee health. We define bee health as a multidimensional concept in a novel integrative framework linking bee biological traits (physiology, stoichiometry, and disease) and environmental factors (floral diversity and nutritional landscapes). Linking information on tolerated nutritional niches and health in different bee species will allow us to better predict their distribution and responses to environmental change, and thus support wild pollinator conservation. Highlights: The diversity, abundance, and health of wild bees is jeopardized primarily by land-use modifications, among other global change drivers. Defining and measuring health in wild bees requires an integrative approach across disciplines. We use elements from chemistry, stoichiometry, ecology, physiology, pathology, and genetics to (i) contribute to a more comprehensive definition of wild bee 'health', and (ii) define a framework linking bee health with floral resource/nutritional landscapes through assessing species-specific nutritional niches. We suggest a novel and holistic approach for capturing bee health through combining field and laboratory tools. Knowledge gained by applying this framework will serve as a blueprint for stakeholders engaged in pollinator conservation.