Evaluating pesticide contamination of pollinators and their provisions across an urban-to-rural landscape gradient.

Project Investigators: Scott Prajzner, Mary Gardiner, Larry Phelan, and Dan Fickle

Across the world, pollinator decline has emerged as a significant threat to agroecosystem function. Although pollination services are contributed by a variety of organisms, bees are considered the most economically important to agriculture. Declines in bee populations in the U.S. have been linked to disease, introduction of exotic competitors and parasites, loss of habitat, and exposure to toxins. Bees are found throughout our environment and utilize a large range of habitats for foraging and nesting. Despite their importance, we know very little about how the structure of the landscape influences their declining populations. Pesticide use is often cited as a potential factor leading to decline among beneficial arthropods; however it is difficult to determine the actual environmental exposure of an organism within its foraging range. Our goal is to understand how landscapes that vary from urban to rural influence exposure of bee species to pesticides. Across this urban-to-rural gradient, pollinators will encounter many environmental stressors. The use of chemicals is often considered only in agricultural habitats, but, municipalities, businesses and home owners also apply chemicals for control of pests and diseases. We are comparing the concentration of key pesticides collected by pollinators foraging across urban, suburban and rural landscapes to determine how landscape structure across this gradient influences the chemical exposure of these beneficial insects. We are also currently working on a citizen science program to work with bee keepers to evaluate the influence of landscape structure on pesticide accumulation in commercial hives in Ohio.