Effects of introduced bees on native ecosystems

By Dave Goulson. 2003

753 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Bees are generally regarded as beneficial insects for their role in pollination, and in the case of the honeybee Apis mellifera, for production of honey. As a result several bee species have been introduced to countries far beyond their home range, including A. mellifera, bumblebees (Bombus sp.), the alfalfa leafcutter bee Megachile rotundata, and various other solitary species. Possible negative consequences of these introductions include: competition with native pollinators for floral resources; competition for nest sites; co-introduction of natural enemies, particularly pathogens that may infect native organisms; pollination of exotic weeds; and disruption of pollination of native plants. For most exotic bee species little or nothing is known of these possible effects. Research to date has focused mainly on A. mellifera, and has largely been concerned with detecting competition with native flower visitors. Considerable circumstantial evidence has accrued that competition does occur, but no experiment has clearly demonstrated long-term reductions in populations of native organisms. Most researchers agree that this probably reflects the difficulty of carrying out convincing studies of competition between such mobile organisms, rather than a genuine absence of competitive effects. Effects on seed set of exotic weeds are easier to demonstrate. Exotic bees often exhibit marked preferences for visiting flowers of exotic plants. For example, in Australia and New Zealand many weeds from Europe are now visited by European honeybees and bumblebees. Introduced bees are primary pollinators of a number of serious weeds. Negative impacts of exotic bees need to be carefully assessed before further introductions are carried out.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Insect Science, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/eaa10afb6a569e98debde391a12d2ad7b7c9fd84

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Citations in the corpus

Global invasions of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the consequences for biodiversity (2005, background): “The successful colonization may result in various undesirable effects (Goulson, 2003).”
Commercialized European bumblebee can cause pollination disturbance: An experiment on seven native plant species in Japan (2007, background): “However, there have been no studies of the impact of B. terrestris invasion on native plants (Goulson, 2003) , although it has been shown to forage native plants (Hingston, 2005; Matsumura et al., 2004).”
Home site advantage in two long‐lived arctic plant species: results from two 30‐year reciprocal transplant studies (2012, background): “Alien insects can also interfere with native insects by transmitting parasites or pathogens (Goulson 2003) or by direct exclusion.”
The decline of the bumble bees and cuckoo bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombini) of Western and Central Europe (2007, background): “introduced bee species (Goulson, 2003), and between wild bees and managed pollinators (Butz-Huryn, 1997;”
Can commercially imported bumble bees out‐compete their native conspecifics? (2006, background): “Although providing evidence of competition between introduced bees and native bees is complex ( Goulson 2003 ), some studies indicate that honey bees can have negative impacts on bumble bees through competition for food (Thomson 2004; Forup & Memmott 2005).”
Mitigating the anthropogenic spread of bee parasites to protect wild pollinators (2015, background): “terrestris is spreading in South America at a speed of approximately 200 km per year, far more rapidly than has been recorded in other invasions, so that is now occupies a region in excess of 2,400 km north to south (Goulson, 2003; Schmid-Hempel et al., 2014).”
Extremely frequent bee visits increase pollen deposition but reduce drupelet set in raspberry (2014, background): “Due to the introduction of domesticated bees to supplement the pollination service provided by native pollinators has become increasingly frequent (Velthuis & van Doorn 2006), bee invasion events have also become more frequently reported (Goulson 2003; Stout & Morales 2009).”
Invasive Africanized honey bee impact on native solitary bees: a pollen resource and trap nest analysis (2009, background): “However, theory has never adequately addressed such variation, details on pollen use and pollination are limited, and the lack of competitive impact by an invasive bee at population levels appeared to have no convincing explanation (Roubik, 1996a; Roubik & Wolda, 2001; Goulson, 2003; Paini, 2004; Ba”
Effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on non-target invertebrates (2014, neutral): “…field trials with neonicotinoids have demonstrated that their half-life in soils varies depending on soil conditions but can range from several weeks to several years (Cox et al. 1997; Sarkar et al. 2001; Cox et al. 2004; Bonmatin et al. 2005; Fossen 2006; Gupta and Gajbhiye 2007; Goulson 2003).”
Pollinator Diversity: Distribution, Ecological Function, and Conservation (2017, background): “The diversity of pollinating insects has been artificially increased in some parts of the world by the introduction of non-native species, particularly bees (Goulson 2003, Russo 2016), either purposefully to enhance crop pollination or accidentally.”
Alien Terrestrial Invertebrates of Europe (2009, background): “Thus, introgression threatens native populations of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, in NW Europe (Goulson 2003) and in the Canary islands (De La Rùa et al.”
Changes in wild bee fauna of a grassland in Brazil reveal negative effects associated with growing urbanization during the last 40 years (2013, background): “This only implies competition for resources if their availability may be limiting (GOULSON 2003).”