DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Buzz about Bee Behavior, Taking an Interdisciplinary Approach to Assess Cognitive Impairments behind Pollinator Declines

在全球范围内，动物传粉者的数量、多样性和地理范围正在以惊人的速度下降。鉴于传粉者在自然和农业生态系统中的关键作用，这些下降对全球生物多样性和作物生产构成了重大威胁。然而，由于缺乏关于环境应激源和人口下降之间的机械联系的信息，解决这一重要问题的保护和恢复努力受到阻碍。为了解决这一重要的知识鸿沟，研究人员将检查长期暴露在不同应激源下对传粉者生存和繁殖至关重要的大脑功能的亚致命影响。研究人员将开发定量工具来测量传粉者对环境应激源的生理和分子反应，然后将这些变化与它们大脑功能和行为的变化联系起来。除了阐明传粉者衰退的原因外，这项研究还将允许开发监测野生种群传粉者健康的生态工具，从而加快识别和保护特别容易衰退的物种的努力。研究人员还将为K-12教育工作者、学生，特别是那些来自代表性不足的群体的学生和当地社区开展以传粉者为重点的教育推广活动。该项目利用高度跨学科的方法来表征北美本土熊蜂传粉者暴露于杀虫剂和感染剂与基于认知的行为障碍之间的联系机制。将利用分子和免疫学方法开发鉴定和量化蜜蜂免疫系统对感染作出反应的体液途径产生的化合物的方法。将使用生态毒理学方法开发工具，以量化长期接触新烟碱类农药后特定蜜蜂组织中的农药和代谢物残留量。农药和免疫反应的测量将与认知功能的标准行为测试的表现相关联，以确定蜜蜂暴露在环境应激源下时观察到的行为变化的机制基础。研究产生的所有数字数据将存储在由当地机构的学术和研究计算中心维护的EMC Isilon存储阵列上。该奖项下所有经过分析的主要数据将迅速发表在同行评议的期刊出版物上。研究结果还将在国内和国际专业会议上传播。

Animal pollinators are declining in abundance, diversity, and geographic range at an alarming rate worldwide. Given the critical role of pollinators in natural and agricultural ecosystems, these declines represent a significant threat to global biodiversity and crop production. However, conservation and restoration efforts to address this important problem are impeded by a lack of information on mechanistic links between environmental stressors and population decline. To address this important knowledge gap, the investigators will examine sub-lethal effects of chronic exposure to different stressors on brain functions important for pollinator survival and reproduction. The investigators will develop quantitative tools to measure physiological and molecular responses to environmental stressors in pollinators, and then correlate those changes with changes in their brain functioning and behavior. In addition to elucidating causal factors in pollinator decline, the research will allow for the development of ecological tools for monitoring pollinator health in wild populations, thereby accelerating efforts to identify and protect species particularly susceptible to decline. The investigators will also engage in pollinator-focused educational outreach activities for K-12 educators, students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, and the local community.This project utilizes a highly interdisciplinary approach to characterize mechanisms linking exposure to pesticides and infectious agents to cognition-based behavioral impairments in bumblebee pollinators native to North America. Molecular and immunological approaches will be used to develop methods for the identification and quantification of compounds produced by the humoral pathway of the bee immune system in response to infection. Ecotoxicological approaches will be used to develop tools for the quantification of pesticide and metabolite residues in specific bee tissues after chronic exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides. Measures of pesticide and immune responses will be correlated with performance on standard behavioral assays of cognitive function in order to identify the mechanistic underpinnings of behavioral alterations observed when bees are exposed to environmental stressors. All digital data generated from the research will be stored on an EMC Isilon storage array that is maintained by the local institution's Center for Academic and Research Computing. All analyzed primary data under this award will be promptly published to peer-reviewed journal publications. The findings of the research will also be disseminated at domestic and international professional conferences.