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<H2 class=date-header>April 21, 2009</H2>
<H3 class="asset-name entry-header" id=page-title>U.K. Initiative Wants to
Restore Buzz of Bees</H3></DIV>
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<P>The number of honey bees worldwide has fallen sharply in recent years, but
the causes are still largely unknown. Today, the U.K. government announced it
will spend £10 million over 5 years to find out more about why the bees, and
other pollinators such as butterflies and moths, are disappearing.</P></DIV>
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<P>The U.K.’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (<A
href="http://www.defra.gov.uk/">DEFRA</A>) estimates that over the past 2 years,
British bee numbers have fallen by 10% to 15%. According to a <A
href="https://secure.csl.gov.uk/beebase/public/Research/indexResearch.cfm">2008
report</A> funded by the department’s National Bee Unit, the number of honey bee
colonies fell by 25.9% in 2008, an even more dramatic loss than the 11.7%
decline documented in 2007. But numbers for other species are scarce. “We have
no hard data about the total amount of decline [across all pollinator species],”
says <A href="http://www.ceh.ac.uk/DrRichardPywell.html">Richard Pywell</A>, an
ecologist from the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (<A
href="http://www.nerc.ac.uk/">NERC</A>). “We hope the initiative will look at
this.” </P>
<P>Bees and pollinator insects are vital for the pollination of many crops,
including strawberries, tomatoes, apples, and legumes—crops estimated to be
worth £200 million a year to the U.K. agricultural economy. A further drop in
pollinator numbers would mean these crops will become more difficult to grow,
which could lead to food shortages and price hikes. Without the pollinators,
“the state of our countryside would change entirely,” says Pywell.</P>
<P>Many bee species are now threatened with extinction, including the great
yellow bumblebee (<A
href="http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=152"><EM>Bombus
distinguendus</EM></A>) and the large garden bumblebee (<A
href="http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=154"><EM>Bombus
ruderatus</EM></A>). These are now listed as protected species under the U.K.’s
<A href="http://www.ukbap.org.uk/default.aspx">Biodiversity Action Plan</A>—a
government-run effort to conserve the country’s species and habitats.</P>
<P>The bee decline could be caused by a range of factors, says Pywell, largely
habitat loss. Other possible factors at play include climate change, disease, or
even chemicals in the environment. “It may be a combination of these factors
working together,” he speculates, and this synergy could be producing a steeper
decline in pollinator numbers than if each factor acted alone.</P>
<P>The new U.K. initiative aims to develop and encourage interdisciplinary
research teams to monitor the decline, and to quantify and understand what's
causing it, said Pywell. Ultimately, the initiative hopes to lead to policies
and cost-effective solutions to stop numbers from falling further. Pywell also
believes that the U.K. initiative will help inform researchers around the world
who are also fighting the drop in numbers.</P>
<P>The initiative includes funding from multiple research bodies across the
United Kingdom, including DEFRA, NERC, The <A
href="http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/">Wellcome Trust</A>, and the <A
href="http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/">Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research
Council</A>.</P>
<P>—Claire Thomas</P>
<P>Related Items:</P>
<P><A
href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/317/5843/1304"><EM>Science</EM></A>
article on colony collapse disorder in honey bees</P>
<P><A
href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/314/5798/397"><EM>Science</EM></A>
article on NRC report on decline in North American pollinators</P>
<P>Photo: Stephen Ausmus, USDA</P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive
Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership </B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th
floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="36ce81a5d8b098667732cd3af48a423f"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Recession-proof vacation ideas. <a href="http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002">Find free things to do in the U.S.</a></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>