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Preliminary Study on the Lichen Community Structure in Forest Ecosystem of Western Tianshan Mountains
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Insect pollinators of crops and wild plants are under threat globally and their decline or loss could have profound
economic and environmental consequences. Here, we argue that multiple anthropogenic pressures – including
land-use intensification, climate change, and the spread of alien species and diseases – are primarily responsible
for insect-pollinator declines. We show that a complex interplay between pressures (eg lack of food sources, diseases, and pesticides) and biological processes (eg species dispersal and interactions) at a range of scales (from genes to ecosystems) underpins the general decline in insect-pollinator populations. Interdisciplinary research on the nature and impacts of these interactions will be needed if human food security and ecosystem function are to be preserved. We highlight key areas that require research focus and outline some practical steps to alleviate the pressures on pollinators and the pollination services they deliver to wild and crop plants.
Assessments must provide conditional predictions of specific policy outcomes, at well-defined spatial and temporal scales.
Bad News for Bees
Neonicotinoid insecticides were introduced in the early 1990s and have become one of the most widely used crop pesticides in the world. These compounds act on the insect central nervous system, and they have been shown to be persistent in the environment and in plant tissues. Recently, there have been controversial connections made between neonicotinoids and pollinator deaths, but the mechanisms underlying these potential deaths have remained unknown. Whitehorn et al. (p. 351 , published online 29 March) exposed developing colonies of bumble bees to low levels of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid and then released them to forage under natural conditions. Treated colonies displayed reduced colony growth and less reproductive success, and they produced significantly fewer queens to found subsequent generations. Henry et al. (p. 348 , published online 29 March) documented the effects of low-dose, nonlethal intoxication of another widely used neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, on wild foraging honey bees. Radio-frequency identification tags were used to determine navigation success of treated foragers, which suggested that their homing success was much reduced relative to untreated foragers.
Efforts to establish an ‘IPCC-like mechanism for biodiversity’, or an IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), may culminate soon — as governments, the scientific community and other stakeholders are getting ready for a third round of negotiations on IPBES. This paper provides firstly, a brief history and broader context for the IPBES process; secondly, a description of the niche that IPBES would occupy in the science-policy landscape for biodiversity and ecosystem services; and thirdly, concludes with some views on the role of scientists in IPBES, and on the need to have strong and proper scientific structures to coordinate scientific efforts internationally, in order to produce the science needed for IPBES.
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) (2015) A reporting service for environment and development negotiations: in third session of the plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
services. http://www.ipbes.net/plenary/ ipbes-1.html
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2013) Report of the
second session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services. http://www.ipbes.net/plenary/ipbes-2.html
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (2015) Report of the third
session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services. http://www.ipbes.net/plenary/ipbes-3.html
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
(2015) A reporting service for environment and
development negotiations: in third session of the plenary of
the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-3). Earth
Negotiations Bulletin, 31(14), 1-2. http://www.iisd.ca/
ipbes/ipbes3/compilatione.pdf
IPBES): an IPCC for biodiversity
- K P Ma
Ma KP (马克平) (2012) Intergovernmental Science-Policy
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES):
an IPCC for biodiversity. Biodiversity Science (生物多样
性), 20, 409-410. (in Chinese)