A study to experimentally determine the impacts of neonicotinoid seed-treatment use on non-target native bee abundance and diversity in Missouri agroecosystems.
Unlike honeybees, numerous wild bee species nest belowground and in close proximity to cultivated fields and flower foraging areas. Although agricultural field-margins can serve as important bee habitat, these areas may also accumulate neonicotinoid insecticides via environmental transport processes (e.g., runoff events and dust migration during planting). However, few field studies have evaluated neonicotinoid impacts on wild pollinator communities, including solitary, ground-nesting bees (e.g., sweat bees, longhorn bees). To assess effects of neonicotinoid exposure on native bee abundance and species richness, we sampled 30 soybean fields on five MDC conservation areas in north-central Missouri from pre-seeding through harvest 2016-2018. Objectives of this project included:
- survey levels of neonicotinoids in soils (fields, field margins),
- assess neonicotinoid levels in native flowers (field margins) and soybean crop flowers, and
- evaluate impacts of annual neonicotinoid seed-treatment use on wild bee communities.