Emerging threats and opportunities to managed bee species in European agricultural systems: a horizon scan.

Managed bee species provide essential pollination services that contribute to food security worldwide. However, managed bees face a diverse array of threats and anticipating these, and potential opportunities to reduce risks, is essential for the sustainable management of pollination services. We conducted a horizon scanning exercise with 20 experts from across Europe to identify emerging threats and opportunities for managed bees in European agricultural systems.

Ecological traits interact with landscape context to determine bees' pesticide risk.

Widespread contamination of ecosystems with pesticides threatens non-target organisms. However, the extent to which life-history traits affect pesticide exposure and resulting risk in different landscape contexts remains poorly understood. We address this for bees across an agricultural land-use gradient based on pesticide assays of pollen and nectar collected by Apis mellifera, Bombus terrestris and Osmia bicornis, representing extensive, intermediate and limited foraging traits.

in a mass-flowering pollinator-dependent crop: A mutualistic relationship?

Bumblebees ( spp.) rely on an abundant and diverse selection of floral resources to meet their nutritional requirements. In farmed landscapes, mass-flowering crops can provide an important forage resource for bumblebees, with increased visitation from bumblebees into mass-flowering crops having an additional benefit to growers who require pollination services.

Courgette Production: Pollination Demand, Supply, and Value.

Courgette (Cucurbita pepo L.) production in the United Kingdom is estimated to be worth £6.7 million.

Re-evaluating strategies for pollinator-dependent crops: How useful is parthenocarpy?

Whilst most studies reviewing the reliance of global agriculture on insect pollination advocate increasing the 'supply' of pollinators (wild or managed) to improve crop yields, there has been little focus on altering a crop's 'demand' for pollinators.Parthenocarpy (fruit set in the absence of fertilization) is a trait which can increase fruit quantity and quality from pollinator-dependent crops by removing the need for pollination.Here we present a meta-analysis of studies examining the extent and effectiveness of parthenocarpy-promoting techniques (genetic modification, hormone application and selective breeding) currently being used commercially, or experimentally, on pollinator-dependent crops in different test environments (no pollination, hand pollination, open pollination).

Classification of Angular Limb Deformities Affecting the Canine Radius and Ulna Using the Center of Rotation of Angulation Method.

Objective: To classify the type of angular deformity affecting the radius and ulna in canine limbs using the center of rotation of angulation methodology.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Animals: Dogs (n=71) diagnosed with thoracic limb lameness attributable to antebrachial angular limb deformities.