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1 June 2010 Community and Species-Specific Responses of Wild Bees to Insect Pest Control Programs Applied to a Pollinator-Dependent Crop
Julianna K. Tuell, Rufus Isaacs
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Abstract

Wild bee conservation is regarded as essential for sustainable production of pollinator dependent crops, yet little is known about the effects on wild bee communities of typical insect pest management programs used postbloom. We developed an insecticide program risk (IPR) index to quantify the relative risk to wild bees of insecticide programs applied to blueberry fields. This was used to determine the relationship between IPR and the abundance, diversity, and richness of wild bee communities sampled during three successive flowering seasons. In 2 of 3 yr, bee abundance and species richness declined with increasing IPR. Bee diversity declined with IPR in one of 3 yr. These results indicate that wild bee communities are negatively affected by increasingly intensive chemical pest management activities in crop fields and that interyear variability in bee populations has the potential to mask such effects in short-term studies. When several wild bee species were analyzed separately, two of three solitary and one of three social blueberry-foraging species declined with increasing IPR values, suggesting that different life histories and nesting habits may help some bee populations escape the negative effects of insecticides applied after bloom. Pollinator conservation programs aimed strictly at reducing insecticide use may have varying success, depending on the biology of the target bee species. The IPR index provides a standard method to compare pest management programs for their potential effect on wild bee communities, with broad application for use in other agricultural systems.

© 2010 Entomological Society of America
Julianna K. Tuell and Rufus Isaacs "Community and Species-Specific Responses of Wild Bees to Insect Pest Control Programs Applied to a Pollinator-Dependent Crop," Journal of Economic Entomology 103(3), 668-675, (1 June 2010). https://doi.org/10.1603/EC09314
Received: 18 September 2009; Accepted: 1 February 2010; Published: 1 June 2010
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KEYWORDS
Apoidea
insecticides
nontarget effects
Vaccinium corymbosum
wild bee conservation
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