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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Pollinator Health in Southern Crop Ecosystems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407515
Research Project: Ecological Assessment and Mitigation Strategies to Reduce the Risks of Bees to Stressors in Southern Crop Ecosystems

Location: Pollinator Health in Southern Crop Ecosystems Research

Title: Editorial: Insect pollinators in the Anthropocene: How multiple environmental stressors are shaping pollinator health

Author
item Lau, Pierre
item SGOLOSTRA, FABIO - Universita Di Bologna
item WILLIAMS, GEOFFREY - Auburn University
item STRAUB, LARS - University Of Bern

Submitted to: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/30/2023
Publication Date: 9/7/2023
Citation: Lau, P.W., Sgolostra, F., Williams, G., Straub, L. 2023. Editorial: Insect pollinators in the Anthropocene: How multiple environmental stressors are shaping pollinator health. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 11:1279774. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1279774.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1279774

Interpretive Summary: The Anthropocene has severe consequences for insects and pollinators across the globe. Many stressors pollinators experience, including climate change, loss of habitat, pollution, pests, and pathogens, are intensified and further cause pollinator decline. Understanding these stressors and how they interact with each other is critical for safeguarding pollinator health and our food supply. In this editorial, we highlight research papers published in this special issue addressing how multiple stressors affect pollinator health.

Technical Abstract: Loss of biodiversity, in particular insect pollinators, is a defining feature of the Anthropocene, with potentially severe consequences for ecosystem function and food security and well-being. A wide array of abiotic and biotic stressors, including habitat destruction and fragmentation, pests and pathogens, climate change, intensified agriculture, poor nutrition, and pollution govern the observed insect declines and losses of wild and managed insect pollinators. These environmental stressors most certainly interact with one another and generate complex effects that amplify individual stressors. There are still knowledge gaps concerning how even the most important stressors may interact to affect insect pollinators. In this special issue, we highlight research focusing on how environmental stressors are shaping pollinator health.