By facilitating plant reproduction, pollinators perform a crucial ecological function that supports the majority of the world's plant diversity, and associated organisms, and a significant fraction of global agriculture Thus, pollinators are simultaneously vital to supporting both natural ecosystems and human food security, which is a unique position for such a diverse group of organisms The past two decades have seen unprecedented interest in pollinators and pollination ecology, stimulated in part by concerns about the decline of pollinator abundance and diversity in some parts of the world This review synthesizes what is currently understood about the taxonomic diversity of organisms that are known to act as pollinators; their distribution in both deep time and present space; the importance of their diversity for ecological function (including agro-ecology); changes to diversity and abundance over more recent timescales, including introduction of non-native species; and a discussion of arguments for 

/pdf/pollinator-diversity-distribution-ecological-function-and-1cnnm3zqru.pdf

Pollinator Diversity: Distribution, Ecological Function, and Conservation

Climate change could increase species' extinction risk as temperatures and precipitation begin to exceed species' historically observed tolerances. Using long-term data for 66 bumble bee species across North America and Europe, we tested whether this mechanism altered likelihoods of bumble bee species' extinction or colonization. Increasing frequency of hotter temperatures predicts species' local extinction risk, chances of colonizing a new area, and changing species richness. Effects are independent of changing land uses. The method developed in this study permits spatially explicit predictions of climate change-related population extinction-colonization dynamics within species that explains observed patterns of geographical range loss and expansion across continents. Increasing frequencies of temperatures that exceed historically observed tolerances help explain widespread bumble bee species decline. This mechanism may also contribute to biodiversity loss more generally.

/pdf/climate-change-contributes-to-widespread-declines-among-32q4b3dud9.pdf

Climate change contributes to widespread declines among bumble bees across continents.

Impacts of climate change on individual species are increasingly well documented, but we lack understanding of how these effects propagate through ecological communities. Here we combine species distribution models with ecological network analyses to test potential impacts of climate change on >700 plant and animal species in pollination and seed-dispersal networks from central Europe. We discover that animal species that interact with a low diversity of plant species have narrow climatic niches and are most vulnerable to climate change. In contrast, biotic specialization of plants is not related to climatic niche breadth and vulnerability. A simulation model incorporating different scenarios of species coextinction and capacities for partner switches shows that projected plant extinctions under climate change are more likely to trigger animal coextinctions than vice versa. This result demonstrates that impacts of climate change on biodiversity can be amplified via extinction cascades from plants to animals in ecological networks.

Ecological networks are more sensitive to plant than to animal extinction under climate change

Bumble bees (Bombus) are unusually important pollinators, with approximately 260 wild species native to all biogeographic regions except sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. As they are ...

Global Trends in Bumble Bee Health.

Climate change will pose diverse challenges for pollination this century. Identifying and addressing these challenges will help to mitigate impacts, and avoid a scenario whereby plants and pollinators are in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’.

Climate change impacts on pollination

Bumble bees represent one of the most important groups of pollinators. In addition to their ecological and economic relevance , they are also a highly charismatic group which can help to increase the interest of people in realizing, enjoying and conserving natural systems. However, like most animals, bum-ble bees are sensitive to climate. In this atlas, maps depicting potential risks of climate change for bumble bees are shown together with informative summary statistics, ecological background information and a picture of each European species. Thanks to the EU FP7 project STEP, the authors gathered over one million bumblebee records from all over Europe. Based on these data, they modelled the current climatic niche for almost all European species (56 species) and projected future climatically suitable conditions using three climate change scenarios for the years 2050 and 2100. While under a moderate change scenario only 3 species are projected to be at the verge of extinction by 2100, 14 species are at high risk under an intermediate change scenario. Under a most severe change scenario as many as 25 species are projected to lose almost all of their climatically suitable area, while a total of 53 species (77% of the 69 European species) would lose the main part of their suitable area. Climatic risks for bumblebees can be extremely high, depending on the future development of human society, and the corresponding effects on the climate. Strong mitigation strategies are needed to preserve this important species group and to ensure the sustainable provision of pollination services, to which they considerably contribute. On the front cover: Bombus hyperboreus, an Arctic bumblebee species that is threatened by global warming

/pdf/climatic-risk-and-distribution-atlas-of-european-bumblebees-1iasom1x7k.pdf

Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees

Insect pollinators are a key component of biodiversity; they also play a major role in the reproduction of many species of wild plants and crops.
 It is widely acknowledged that insect pollinators are threatened by many environmental pressures, mostly of anthropogenic nature. Their decline is a global phenomenon. A better understanding of their distribution can help their monitoring and ultimately facilitate conservation actions.
 Since we only have partial knowledge of where pollinator species occur, the possibility to predict suitable environmental conditions from scattered species records can facilitate not only species monitoring, but also the identification of areas potentially vulnerable to pollinators decline.
 This data paper contains the predicted distribution of 47 species of bumblebees across the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU-28). Amongst the wild pollinators, bumblebees are one of the major groups contributing to the production of many crop species, hence their decline in Europe, North America and Asia can potentially threaten food security.
 Predictions were derived from distribution models, using species records with a spatial resolution of 10 km accessed from a central repository. Predictions were based on records from 1991 to 2012 and on a series of spatial environmental predictors from three main thematic areas: land use and land cover, climate and topography.
 These distributions were used to estimate the value of pollination as an ecosystem service. In light of the recent European Pollinators Initiative, this paper provides valuable information for a better understanding of where wild pollinators occur and it should be extended to other pollinator species.

https://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/article/28143/download/pdf/

Distribution of bumblebees across Europe

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to list the social vespids occurring in Spain, determine their presence in each region, and correlate the data with the vespids responsible for allergic reactions and their progression over time.


METHODS
Insects distribution data were collected in two phases: from the southern half of Spain (2008-2012), and from the northern half of Spain (2016-2019). Data for the vespids were collected from the prescriptions of Hymenoptera venom immunotherapy (HVIT) at six Spanish hospitals in the years 2009 and 2019.


RESULTS
Polistes dominula and Vespula germanica were the most widely distributed species. Vespa velutina was found to be present in a large part of northern Spain. During the 10 year period, the prescriptions of vespid VIT increased by 42.63%. The north of Spain saw a 3.61 fold greater predominance of prescriptions for Vespula (to some extent influenced by Vespa velutina allergy) whereas in central and southern Spain, there was a 3.97 fold greater predominance of prescriptions for Polistes.


CONCLUSIONS
It is the first study that compares the vespid distribution maps with VIT prescription. A noteworthy finding is the wide presence of Polistes dominula and Vespula germanica in Spain and the appearance of Vespa velutina allergy in the northern part of the country. Data of HVIT prescriptions reflect inter-regional variability with the predominance of Vespula (due to Vespula and Vespa) in the north and that of Polistes in the center and south of Spain.

Social wasps in Spain: the who and where.

Abstract The smalltooth sand tiger shark Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810) appears to have an extensive and fragmented distribution in tropical and warm-temperate worldwide oceans. One female of O. ferox was caught and released by a small-scale fishery vessel in Ría de Arousa (Northwest of Spain), subsequently stranded still alive on the coast (42°33’18.4"N 8°49’18.3"O) after a few hours. The individual (336 cm total length, weight ~ 300 kg) was identified based on a collection of features including the characteristic dentition, body morphology and by molecular assignment. This is the first confirmed record of O. ferox in Galician waters. This finding complements the knowledge of the geographic distribution and occurrence of this rare and sparse species in the Northeastern Atlantic. 

/pdf/first-confirmed-record-of-the-smalltooth-sand-tiger-198z8ehi.pdf

Leopoldo Castro

Papers

Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees

Distribution of bumblebees across Europe

Social wasps in Spain: the who and where.

First Confirmed Record of the Smalltooth Sand Tiger, Odontapis Ferox, in Galicia (NW Spain)