Abstract
Impacts of neonicotinoid-containing pesticides on pollinators have been heavily debated in recent years. While bees in the field get rarely exposed to lethal concentrations of neonicotinoids applied as seed coating, sublethal levels found in pollen and nectar may affect bee population development. We assessed a realistic and a worst-case scenario of clothianidin exposure to mason bees (Osmia bicornis) and bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) by conducting a small-scale field and semi-field experiment at sites planted with winter oilseed rape. Flight activity, mortality and population development (brood, colony strength and weight) of bumblebees and number of mason bee brood cells were assessed at three locations. We also analysed clothianidin residues in bee-collected pollen and nectar. We detected clothianidin at low concentrations in nectar and pollen; residues in pollen were higher than in nectar but did not exceed a maximum field concentration of 2.7 µg/kg for bumblebees and 4.7 µg/kg for mason bees. Exposure did not result in significant negative impacts on bumblebee colony development and potential reproductive success of mason bees in either semi-field or field setup. During exposure bumblebees in semi-field treatment tunnels were flying less actively than in control tunnels. Bumblebee colonies in treatment tunnels weighed more than control colonies at the end of the experiment. Our findings suggest that field-realistic exposure to oilseed rape grown from clothianidin-treated seeds (10 g clothianidin/kg seeds) poses little risks to mason bees, bumblebees and their population development. However, an impairment of flower visitation under a worst-case scenario may have implications for pollination services and crop production.
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Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. We are grateful to Bernd Rodemann for providing meteorological data. We like to thank Malte Frommberger at the JKI Braunschweig and the BTL Bio-Test Labor GmbH Sagerheide, Groß Lüsewitz, for their help in carrying out the experiment. We also thank the employees of the Field and Greenhouse Services at the JKI Braunschweig for their help with setting up the experiment. Rolf Forster gave valuable comments to drafts of this paper.
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Dietzsch, A.C., Kunz, N., Wirtz, I.P. et al. Does winter oilseed rape grown from clothianidin-coated seeds affect experimental populations of mason bees and bumblebees? A semi-field and field study. J Consum Prot Food Saf 14, 223–238 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-019-01225-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-019-01225-5