Evidence and impact of parasite spillover across pollinator communities

在全球范围内，许多传粉媒介物种都遭受了范围缩小、种群减少，在某些情况下甚至灭绝的痛苦——所有这些都是由寄生虫等压力因素造成的。由此导致的授粉服务减少对生态系统稳定和全球粮食安全构成重大威胁，但许多有害寄生虫的身份仍然未知，它们的传播和潜在宿主仍然是一个谜。了解传粉昆虫群落中寄生虫传播的动态和疾病的严重程度是一项具有全球重要性的挑战，显然有可能对生态系统和粮食安全产生重大益处。人类的做法和耕作可能加剧寄生虫的传播；在英国，每年有超过50,000个管理的大黄蜂殖民地被进口用于农业，此外还有大约250,000个管理的蜂箱也记录在这里。该小组之前的工作表明，这些做法影响了至少5种已知的蜜蜂和大黄蜂寄生虫的溢出/溢出动态，促使欧盟和英国修改法规。然而，这些数据仅限于所有传粉媒介物种的不到1%，并且由于这种研究偏向于一小部分传粉媒介物种及其寄生虫，因此没有考虑到许多尚未为科学所知的寄生虫。这个雄心勃勃的博士学位将包括实地考察，探索野生和管理传粉昆虫群落多样性内部和之间的寄生虫溢出，然后利用一套尖端的分子和生物信息学技术来发现寄生虫（已知和未知的科学），跟踪疾病动态，并确定不同传粉昆虫群体的疾病严重程度。独特的是，该项目还为学生提供了与大黄蜂保护信托基金（BBCT）密切合作的机会，参加有组织的蜜蜂行走，帮助推广蜜蜂，研究和BBCT的外展活动。BBCT将帮助向其成员、监管机构和政府宣传研究结果。在伦敦帝国理工学院的希尔伍德公园校区，有一个强大的进化和分子生态学家社区。您将受益于同事在一系列协同主题的工作，包括蜜蜂的宿主-寄生虫相互作用，传粉者生态学和功能微生物学。我们有一个研究养蜂场，新安装的昆虫室，最先进的基因组学和微生物套房，所有这些都位于100公顷的自然公园用地上。培训内容包括传粉者野外工作、蜜蜂饲养、微生物学、分子测序和生物信息学。该项目将为我们了解传粉媒介群体中的疾病传播提供前所未有的见解，为制定适当的管理策略提供所需的宝贵证据。

Globally, many pollinator species have suffered range reductions, declining populations, and in some cases extinction - all driven by stressors such as parasites. The resulting decline in pollination service poses a significant threat to ecosystem stability and global food security however the identity of many of the harmful parasites remain unknown, and their transmission and potential reservours remain a mystery. Understanding the dynamics of parasite spread and the severity of disease across pollinator communities is a challenge of global importance with a clear potential to have significant benefit to ecosystems and food security.The spread of parasites can be intensified by human practices and farming; In the UK over 50,000 managed bumblebee colonies are imported every year for agriculture in addition to ~250,000 managed honey bee hives recorded to also be here. Previous work by the group has shown that these practices influence the spillover/spillback dynamics of atleast 5 known honey bee and bumblebee parasites, prompting changes to EU and UK regulations. However these data are limited to less than 1% of all pollinator species and do not account for the many parasites that are as-yet unknown to science due to this research bias on a small fraction of pollinator species and their parasites. This ambitious PhD will involve fieldwork to explore parasite spillover within and between the vast diversity of wild and managed pollinator communities, before utilising a suite of cutting edge molecular and bioinformatic techniques to discover parasites (both known and unknown to science), track disease dynamics, and determine disease severity across diverse groups of pollinators.Uniquely, this project also offers the student opportunity to work closely with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT), taking part in organised BeeWalks and helping promote bees, research, and the BBCT at outreach events. The BBCT will help promote the studentship findings both to their members, regulatory bodies and government. Based at the Silwood Park campus of Imperial College London there is a strong community of evolutionary and molecular ecologists. You will benefit from colleagues working on a range synergistic topics including host-parasite interactions of honeybees, pollinator ecology, and functional microbiology. We have a research apiary, newly fitted insect rooms, state of the art genomics and microbiology suites, and all situated on 100ha of natural parkland. Training will be provided on pollinator field work, bee husbandry, microbiology, molecular sequencing, and bioinformatics. The project will deliver unprecedented insight to our understanding of disease spread across pollinator communities, providing the valuble evidence needed to develop appropriate management strategies.