Fears of a decline in bee pollination confirmed

May be due to climate change

2010-09-06

(Press-News.org) TORONTO, ON - Widespread reports of a decline in the population of bees and other flower-visiting animals have aroused fear and speculation that pollination is also likely on the decline. A recent University of Toronto study provides the first long-term evidence of a downward trend in pollination, while also pointing to climate change as a possible contributor.

"Bee numbers may have declined at our research site, but we suspect that a climate-driven mismatch between the times when flowers open and when bees emerge from hibernation is a more important factor," says James Thomson, a scientist with U of T's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Thomson's 17-year examination of the wild lily in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado is one of the longest-term studies of pollination ever done. It reveals a progressive decline in pollination over the years, with particularly noteworthy pollination deficits early in the season. The study will be published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences on September 6.

Three times each year, Thomson compared the fruiting rate of unmanipulated flowers to that of flowers that are supplementally pollinated by hand. "Early in the year, when bumble bee queens are still hibernating, the fruiting rates are especially low," he says. "This is sobering because it suggests that pollination is vulnerable even in a relatively pristine environment that is free of pesticides and human disturbance but still subject to climate change."

Thomson began his long-term studies in the late 1980s after purchasing a remote plot of land and building a log cabin in the middle of a meadow full of glacier lilies. His work has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

INFORMATION:

MEDIA CONTACTS:

James D. Thomson
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Toronto
416-978-3527
james.thomson@utoronto.ca

Sean Bettam
Communications, Faculty of Arts & Science
University of Toronto
416-946-7950
s.bettam@utoronto.ca

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

In a changing climate, erratic rainfall poses growing threat to rural poor, new report says

2010-09-06

STOCKHOLM (6 September 2010)—Against a backdrop of extreme weather wreaking havoc around the world, a new report warns that increasingly erratic rainfall related to climate change will pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, especially in Africa and Asia, requiring increased investment in diverse forms of water storage as an effective remedy. "Millions of farmers in communities dependent on rainfed agriculture are at risk from decreasing and erratic availability of water," said Colin Chartres, director general of the Sri Lanka-based International Water ...

MIT researchers create new self-assembling photovoltaic technology that repairs itself

2010-09-06

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Plants are good at doing what scientists and engineers have been struggling to do for decades: converting sunlight into stored energy, and doing so reliably day after day, year after year. Now some MIT scientists have succeeded in mimicking a key aspect of that process. One of the problems with harvesting sunlight is that the sun's rays can be highly destructive to many materials. Sunlight leads to a gradual degradation of many systems developed to harness it. But plants have adopted an interesting strategy to address this issue: They constantly break ...

'Slow light' on a chip holds promise for optical communications

2010-09-06

SANTA CRUZ, CA--A tiny optical device built into a silicon chip has achieved the slowest light propagation on a chip to date, reducing the speed of light by a factor of 1,200 in a study reported in Nature Photonics (published online September 5 and in the November print issue). The ability to control light pulses on an integrated chip-based platform is a major step toward the realization of all-optical quantum communication networks, with potentially vast improvements in ultra-low-power performance. Holger Schmidt, professor of electrical engineering in the Baskin School ...

DNA fingerprinting pioneer discovers role of key genetic catalyst for human diversity

2010-09-06

One of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people, is explained by new research published today (Sept 5) by world-renowned scientist Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, who discovered DNA fingerprinting at the University of Leicester. Professor Jeffreys has spent over two decades since his landmark discovery in 1984 investigating what he describes as "pretty bizarre bits of DNA" - highly variable repeated parts of DNA called 'minisatellites' - found in the human genome. Sir Alec observed that ...

Biologists find way to reduce stem cell loss during cancer treatment

2010-09-06

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a gene critical for programmed cell death is also important in the loss of adult stem cells, a finding that could help to improve the health and well-being of patients undergoing cancer treatment. "During chemotherapy or radiation therapy that kills cancer cells by inducing significant DNA damage in their genomes, one of the main side effects for human cancer patients is the depletion of their own adult stem cells, particularly the ones responsible for making new blood and intestine cells. So these ...

New website to assist busy mums MumsDelivery Media Release

2010-09-06

A new website providing busy mums with a central point to discover businesses that provide home delivery and in-home services was recently launched. The new website - http://www.mumsdelivery.com.au - is a business directory for mums interested in shopping and arranging in-home services from the comfort of their own home. The website is intuitive and easy to navigate, making it simple for users to find the businesses they are looking for. Mums today are particularly technologically savvy. The 'online mum' demographic is emerging as one of the fastest growing segments ...

The Bornmann Law Group, PLLC, Arizona's bankruptcy attorneys, launches their informative, advisory blog.

2010-09-06

The Bornmann Law Group, PLLC, a debt relief agency servicing all of Arizona, has launched their new informational and advisory blog, http://www.bankruptcy-az.com/wordpress/. This bankruptcy themed blog is written by bankruptcy attorneys and bankruptcy lawyers who advise and help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Their blog focuses on bankruptcy planning, Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filing options, advice on wage garnishments and repossessions, bankruptcy law and advice for those that are experiencing extreme financial difficulty. Recent articles ...

Montage, Inc Movage Movers Enjoy Summer 2010 Discount

2010-09-06

Movage Movers Enjoy Summer 2010 Discount 1 Month Free Storage with Movage Moving & Storage. Our qualified staff of professional movers and fleet of new trucks will meet all of your moving needs. We carefully screen all our employees and regularly train them in the latest packing and moving methods. Our crews utilize state-of-the-art equipment to safely transport and deliver most fragile furniture, machinery, fine arts and pianos. Each vehicle in our fleet is equipped with a Real-Time Vehicle Tracking System, aka GPS (Global Positioning System). Real-time vehicle tracking ...

"STOP THE INSANITY" Charley Miller is Colorado's Unaffiliated on this November's ballot for the US Senate, and this is his blog radio show. Live broadcast every Monday - Thursday at 9a.m. Mountain.

2010-09-06

'Stop the Insanity' Your Thoughts Aired on Social Radio Network BlogTalkRadio 'Stop the Insanity' tackles America's Political Problem live on Monday-Thursday, starting September 6th, 2010 at 9 a.m. Mountain Standard time The question on every American' s mind today is how to 'Stop the Insanity' will be the focus of BlogTalkRadio 'Stop the Insanity' (http://blogtalkradio.com/charleymiller2010) with host Charley Miller on every Monday - Thursday, starting September 6th, 2010 at 9:00 am Mountain Standard time. The show will feature Charley Miller, who will be on the ...

Alba Spectrum Linux eCommerce Integration to Dynamics GP Scenario

2010-09-06

First of all we have to say, that it is not about Magento shopping cart. This publication is about real implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP version 10.0, integrated in quasi real time with custom PHP/MySQL ecommerce website. Ecommerce application itself was coded in PHP by in-house programmers. In initial discussions developers were interested to know Dynamics GP table structure and how master records (customers, items) and transactions (SOP Order with customer deposit) could be pushed down to Great Plains tables. We also discussed such integration methods as eConnect. ...

BioCompNet: a deep learning workflow enabling automated body composition analysis toward precision management of cardiometabolic disorders

Nonlinear association between systemic immune-inflammation index and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and atrial fibrillation: a cross-sectio

Fears of a decline in bee pollination confirmed

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: