title: Why Bees Are So Vulnerable to Environmental Stressors.
abstract: Bee populations are declining in the industrialized world, raising concerns for the sustainable pollination of crops. Pesticides, pollutants, parasites, diseases, and malnutrition have all been linked to this problem. We consider here neurobiological, ecological, and evolutionary reasons why bees are particularly vulnerable to these environmental stressors. Central-place foraging on flowers demands advanced capacities of learning, memory, and navigation. However, even at low intensity levels, many stressors damage the bee brain, disrupting key cognitive functions needed for effective foraging, with dramatic consequences for brood development and colony survival. We discuss how understanding the relationships between the actions of stressors on the nervous system, individual cognitive impairments, and colony decline can inform constructive interventions to sustain bee populations.
authors.affiliation: Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research(CNRS), University Paul Sabatier(UPS), Toulouse, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research(CNRS), University Paul Sabatier(UPS), Toulouse, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Amélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cabirol
authors.affiliation: Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research(CNRS), University Paul Sabatier(UPS), Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Devaud
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Barron
authors.affiliation: Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, National Center for Scientific Research(CNRS), University Paul Sabatier(UPS), Toulouse, France. Electronic address: mathieu.lihoreau@univ-tlse3.fr.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lihoreau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D004777:Environment; D035264:Flowers; D054817:Pollination; D011157:Population Dynamics
keywords: brain functions; central-place foraging; cognition; environmental stressors; pesticides; pollinators