Optimising Nature's pharmacies: plant chemicals and pollinator health at the landscape scale

优化大自然的药房：景观尺度上的植物化学物质和传粉媒介健康

• 批准号: NE/Y000285/1
• 负责人: Mark Brown
• 金额: $ 106.86万
• 依托单位: Royal Holloway University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FY000285%2F1
• 关键词: Optimising; Nature; pharmacies; plant; chemicals

Bumble bees are not just the beloved buzz of summer meadows, they are essential to the fertilisation of wild flowers, and without them and other flower-visiting insects many of our flowering plant species would disappear. Bumble bees are one of the most important pollinating groups for wild flowers but many bumble bee species are in decline around the world. One reason for their decline is the impact of parasites on their health. Our recent work has shown that flowers not only supply visiting bumble bees with nectar for sugar and pollen for protein, but that they also provide substances that can help to combat parasite infections, and thus improve bumble bee health. If we can understand where and when these substances are produced and under what circumstances they can improve bumble bee health, we will be able to manage the landscape to maximise their benefit. In essence, we can turn natural landscapes into pharmacies for bees.Recently, we found that ling heather, which dominates heathland and moorland in the UK, and is one of the top 4 producers of nectar for bees, produces a natural substance called callunene in the nectar, which prevents the infection of individual bumble bees with a gut parasite that can have dramatic impacts on bee health. However, lowland heathland is a highly threatened habitat, with more than 80% lost over the last 200 years, and the UK holding 20% of the global remains. In this study we will test whether the positive impact of callunene on individual bumble bees scales up to similar impacts on the health of bumble bee colonies. We will do this under controlled laboratory experiments, through controlled exposure in the field, and then in actual lowland heath, to unravel how positive impacts emerge. We will also quantify callunene production across lowland heaths to understand what factors drive its production. This will allow us to calculate the additional health value of lowland heaths to bumble bees, and understand how we can manage heaths to maximise their value to bee health.Overall, we will assess the value of Nature's pharmacy to bee health, and provide information and guidance to managers of lowland heath to aid them in maximising the health of the bees on which heather relies.

大黄蜂不仅是夏季草地上受人喜爱的嗡嗡声，它们对于野花的受精也至关重要，如果没有它们和其他访花昆虫，我们的许多开花植物物种就会消失。熊蜂是野花最重要的授粉群体之一，但世界各地的许多熊蜂物种正在减少。它们数量下降的原因之一是寄生虫对健康的影响。我们最近的研究表明，花朵不仅为来访的熊蜂提供花蜜以获取糖分，为花粉提供蛋白质，而且还提供有助于对抗寄生虫感染的物质，从​​而改善熊蜂的健康。如果我们能够了解这些物质在何时何地产生，以及在什么情况下它们可以改善大黄蜂的健康，我们将能够管理景观以最大限度地发挥其效益。本质上，我们可以把自然景观变成蜜蜂的药房。最近，我们发现，在英国石南地和沼泽地中占主导地位、为蜜蜂提供花蜜的四大生产国之一的林石南，在其中产生一种叫做卡鲁烯的天然物质。花蜜，可以防止大黄蜂个体感染肠道寄生虫，这种寄生虫会对蜜蜂的健康产生巨大影响。然而，低地石南地是一个受到高度威胁的栖息地，在过去 200 年里已经消失了 80% 以上，而英国拥有全球 20% 的残骸。在这项研究中，我们将测试卡鲁烯对熊蜂个体的积极影响是否会扩大到对熊蜂群健康的类似影响。我们将在受控实验室实验下进行这项工作，通过受控的实地暴露，然后在实际的低地荒地中，以揭示积极影响是如何产生的。我们还将量化低地荒地的卡鲁烯产量，以了解推动其生产的因素。这将使我们能够计算低地荒地对大黄蜂的额外健康价值，并了解我们如何管理荒地以最大限度地发挥其对蜜蜂健康的价值。总体而言，我们将评估自然药房对蜜蜂健康的价值，并提供信息和为低地荒地管理者提供指导，帮助他们最大限度地提高石南花赖以生存的蜜蜂的健康。