POLLINATION Research Highlights from the Canadian Pollination Initiative NATION (2009-2014) © NSERC-CANPOLIN 2015 FOREWORD ...2 TAXONOMY Know your Pollinators...4 The “Other” Pollinators...7 FOREWORD BEE HEALTH New Treatment Helps Fight Virus..11 Fungus Combats Deadly Parasite...13 An Old Foe in New Form: Nosema...15 Welcome to “Pollination Nation”, a publications submitted or in print, Know your Enemy: Small Hive Beetle..17 compilation of research highlights and many more are still expected. Bees and Biomarkers...19 Bees and Math...21 from the Canadian Pollination But scientific output is just one way Initiative (NSERC-CANPOLIN), a in which CANPOLIN was successful. MANAGING POLLINATORS Brainy Bumble Bees...25 strategic research network funded The Network provided training for Super Bees and Biovectoring...28 by the Natural Sciences and close to 150 graduate students, Bees in Space...31 Engineering Research Council and has helped build a strong PLANT REPRODUCTION from 2009-2014 to address the foundation for highly collaborative Playing Darwin ...34 Evolution of Selfing in Plants...37 multifaceted problems facing pollination research in Canada, one High Cost of Self-Pollination...40 pollinators and plant reproduction that I believe will serve the scientific WIND POLLINATION in Canada. community well as we continue to Blowing in the Wind...43 work to address the complex issues Pollination in Ontario’s “Green Arc”...46 The CANPOLIN Network was truly around pollination. ECOLOGY From Dump to Diversity...49 national in scope, bringing together this digest are but a sample of some Thieving Bees...52 44 researchers from 26 institutions CANPOLIN would not have been of the work that has taken place. A Measuring Pollination Services...54 across the country. Research possible without the dedicated full list of projects can be viewed on Managing Forests for Pollination...57 Native Bee Diversity on Farms...60 activities fell into one of seven efforts of our researchers and pg. 96. To jump to a different story Lowbush Blueberry Pollination...62 working groups: (1) Wild Pollinator graduate students, working group in the digest, readers may simply Highbush Blueberry Pollination...65 Nocturnal Pollination...68 Taxonomy, (2) Managed Pollinators, leaders, and the members of our click on the navigation bar at right. Pollinators at the Top of the World...70 (3) Plant Reproduction, (4) Wind Board of Directors and Scientific Alien Invasion... 73 Pollination, (5) Ecosystems, (6) Advisory Committee. See “Who’s To learn more about CANPOLIN Through the Eyes of a Pollinator...76 Pollination Networks I...78 Prediction or (7) Economics. Many Who in CANPOLIN” on pg. 105 for and its activities over last 5+ years, I Pollination Networks II...82 projects crossed working group and a full list of Network members. invite you to visit our website. GLOBAL CHANGE disciplinary boundaries, reflecting Secrets of the Museum...86 the highly integrative nature of The Network is also indebted to its Pathogen Spillover & Bee Decline...88 Keeping up with Climate Change...90 CANPOLIN. many partners and supporters, who ECOMONICS generously helped leverage NSERC Bee-conomics...93 Immense progress was made over support almost two-fold. APPENDICES the life of the Network. At the Peter Kevan, Scientific List of Projects...96 time of writing, we have over 130 The research stories highlighted in Director, NSERC-CANPOLIN Who’s Who in CANPOLIN...105 Partners...109 Credits...111 2 FOREWORD ...2 TAXONOMY Know your Pollinators...4 The “Other” Pollinators...7 BEE HEALTH New Treatment Helps Fight Virus..11 Fungus Combats Deadly Parasite...13 An Old Foe in New Form: Nosema...15 Know your Enemy: Small Hive Beetle..17 Bees and Biomarkers...19 TAXONOMY Bees and Math...21 MANAGING POLLINATORS Brainy Bumble Bees...25 Super Bees and Biovectoring...28 Bees in Space...31 PLANT REPRODUCTION Playing Darwin ...34 Evolution of Selfing in Plants...37 High Cost of Self-Pollination...40 WIND POLLINATION Blowing in the Wind...43 Pollination in Ontario’s “Green Arc”...46 ECOLOGY From Dump to Diversity...49 Thieving Bees...52 Measuring Pollination Services...54 Managing Forests for Pollination...57 Native Bee Diversity on Farms...60 Lowbush Blueberry Pollination...62 Highbush Blueberry Pollination...65 Nocturnal Pollination...68 Pollinators at the Top of the World...70 Alien Invasion... 73 Through the Eyes of a Pollinator...76 Pollination Networks I...78 Pollination Networks II...82 GLOBAL CHANGE Secrets of the Museum...86 Pathogen Spillover & Bee Decline...88 Keeping up with Climate Change...90 ECOMONICS Bee-conomics...93 APPENDICES List of Projects...96 Who’s Who in CANPOLIN...105 Partners...109 Credits...111 3 FOREWORD ...2 TAXONOMY KNOW YOUR Know your Pollinators...4 The “Other” Pollinators...7 BEE HEALTH New Treatment Helps Fight Virus..11 POLLINATORS Fungus Combats Deadly Parasite...13 An Old Foe in New Form: Nosema...15 Taxonomy is vital to the study of pollinators Know your Enemy: Small Hive Beetle..17 Bees and Biomarkers...19 Bees and Math...21 Any study of pollinators – or Thanks to the efforts of the wild MANAGING POLLINATORS Brainy Bumble Bees...25 attempt to conserve or protect pollinator working group (WG1), Super Bees and Biovectoring...28 them - requires accurate knowledge we now know what CANADA’s Bees in Space...31 of the organisms are. pollinators are. A catalogue of 806 PLANT REPRODUCTION Canadian bee species has been Playing Darwin ...34 Evolution of Selfing in Plants...37 successfully compiled – the fruit of High Cost of Self-Pollination...40 many years of labour and exhaustive WIND POLLINATION sampling across Canada, particularly Blowing in the Wind...43 by former CANPOLIN research Pollination in Ontario’s “Green Arc”...46 associate Cory Sheffield. This effort The masked bee Hylaeus punctatus, a ECOLOGY species not previously recorded in Canada From Dump to Diversity...49 also led to the discovery of some (photo by C. Sheffield) Thieving Bees...52 species not previously known in Measuring Pollination Services...54 Canada, such as the masked bee Managing Forests for Pollination...57 Native Bee Diversity on Farms...60 TAXONOMY Hylaeus punctata. and many species are extremely Lowbush Blueberry Pollination...62 difficult to identify to species. WG1 Highbush Blueberry Pollination...65 Nocturnal Pollination...68 But knowing what bees are out there researchers strove to break down is the science of describing and Pollinators at the Top of the World...70 is just a first step. A major goal of the taxonomic barrier for Canadian Alien Invasion... 73 classifying biological diversity. CANPOLIN was to increase Canada’s pollinators through the creation of Through the Eyes of a Pollinator...76 It is the very foundation of our Pollination Networks I...78 understanding of biology, and our capacity in pollinator identification. user-friendly, online identification Pollination Networks II...82 efforts to conserve biodiversity. In This goal was essential not only to keys that can be used by anyone GLOBAL CHANGE recent years, scientists have sounded help fulfill the research objectives with a microscope and a computer Secrets of the Museum...86 Pathogen Spillover & Bee Decline...88 the alarm about the growing of the entire network, but also to with internet access. Keys have been Keeping up with Climate Change...90 “taxonomic crisis” - the fact that only support pollinator conservation fundamental to insect identification a small fraction of the world’s species ECOMONICS programs in the long term. since the field of taxonomy was born Bee-conomics...93 have been described and species some 200 years ago, but traditional are going extinct faster than we can APPENDICES The vast majority of Canada’s keys can be difficult to use, List of Projects...96 document them. bees are relatively inconspicuous particularly for a non-expert. An old Who’s Who in CANPOLIN...105 Partners...109 Credits...111 4 saying amongst taxonomists states FOREWORD ...2 that “keys are written by people who TAXONOMY Know your Pollinators...4 don’t need them for people who The “Other” Pollinators...7 can’t use them.” BEE HEALTH New Treatment Helps Fight Virus..11 To help rectify this problem, the Fungus Combats Deadly Parasite...13 An Old Foe in New Form: Nosema...15 WG1 team set out to build a series of Know your Enemy: Small Hive Beetle..17 keys that could be used by experts Bees and Biomarkers...19 Bees and Math...21 and lay-persons alike. These keys all share two important features: MANAGING POLLINATORS Brainy Bumble Bees...25 they are available freely online, and Super Bees and Biovectoring...28 they are rich in high-quality images Bees in Space...31 that help eliminate the need for PLANT REPRODUCTION a detailed knowledge of insect Playing Darwin ...34 Evolution of Selfing in Plants...37 anatomy and terminology. Using the High Cost of Self-Pollination...40 latest in imaging technology, WG1 WIND POLLINATION researchers, graduate students and Blowing in the Wind...43 technicians have assembled literally Pollination in Ontario’s “Green Arc”...46 thousands of high-resolution images ECOLOGY York University technician Sheila Dumesh compiles images for use in an From Dump to Diversity...49 identification key (photo by L. Packer) of hundreds of anatomical features Thieving Bees...52 used to identify pollinators. Measuring Pollination Services...54 genera that contain more than one colleagues outside the network will Managing Forests for Pollination...57 Native Bee Diversity on Farms...60 Key development in CANPOLIN species, WG1 efforts have resulted mean that Canadians can expect to Lowbush Blueberry Pollination...62 progressed in leaps and bounds. A in species keys (either completed or have easy to use keys available for Highbush Blueberry Pollination...65 Nocturnal Pollination...68 key to all 56 genera of Canadian nearing completion) for half of these. species in most of the remaining Pollinators at the Top of the World...70 bees has been completed and According to WG1 leader Laurence genera within the next few years. Alien Invasion... 73 tested, and is expected to be Packer, ongoing efforts by both “Once these keys are complete, we Through the Eyes of a Pollinator...76 Pollination Networks I...78 published in 2015.