In the previous post, Decline in Bee Population , I talked about the decline in bee population and its serious ecological consequences. Human activity has been one of the most important contributors to the decline bee population in the terrestrial ecosystem. While humans have not directly competed with the bees and have not actively killed the bees, their activities have worsened some of the limiting factors, such as temperature, pollution and habitat that affect the growth in bee population.
Bees are a crucial part of our environment. They are one of the main sources of pollination. They are essential to plant life, and as such essential to the health of the terrestrial ecosystem. According to an article published by Fairmont, “one in every three bites of food consumed around the world depends on pollinators, bees in particular” and “bees are responsible for the reproduction of alfalfa and clover, which feed cattle and other grazing animals”.
In recent years, the bee population has suffered a steady decline in many places. According to the following video by CBC news, many farmers in Quebec have experienced reduced crops due to the decline in bee populations. Some commercial bee keepers have suffered up to 70% loss in their bee stock.
According to the video, the largest culprit has been the Varroa mites, which are tiny red-brown external parasites of honey bees.
According to an article by CBC, warm weather has contributed towards a rise in the parasite population. According to the scientific community, human activity has contributed to rapid increase in the amount of CO2 globally. This can and has increased the greenhouse effects that have lead to an overall warmer temperature than previous years. Serious changes in human activity and reduction in the use of fossil fuels is needed in order to slow down the rise in temperature as a limiting factor for the bee population. Various human activity such as deforestation, and burning of fossil fuels have been major contributors to the increased, and increasing level of CO2.
The burning of fossil fuels and exhaust fumes from cars and other vehicles can have negative effects on insect pollinators such as bees. According to an article by YaleEnviroment360, “Air pollution may be making it harder for bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers, reducing pollination by as much as a third”. The article mentions that “scientists found a 14 to 31 percent reduction in pollination among plants exposed to polluted air”. Reduction in pollination can lead to reduction of types of plants that bees rely on, resulting in further decline in the bee population, which intern can further reduce the plant population. If this continues it may lead to spiraling dire effects on the ecosystems that rely on bees for pollination and plant growth.
In addition to the exhaust fumes from the burning of fossil fuels, human use of pesticides and herbicides have increased the amount of pollution in the terrestrial ecosystem. According another article by YaleEnvironment360, “Bees exposed to a neonicotinoid pesticide are able to fly just a third of the distance that unexposed bees can and stay in the air for far less time”. This implies that bees become weaker to exposure to pesticides, and cannot fly as far as they could have, and cannot pollinate as wide a range of land as they would have. Herbicides use has also contributed to adverse environmental effects that have limited the growth of bee population. Herbicide use can kill plants that may have been used by bees. It can also expose bees to chemicals that may be detrimental to their health.
In addition to rising temperatures and use of pollutants, urbanization has led to reduction in the bee’s natural habitat. Urbanization also exposes the surrounding nature to diverse human activates such as burning fossil fuels to heat their humans and drive their vehicles, which, in turn, adds to the other limiting factors I discussed above.
Various human activities such as urbanization, deforestation, use of pesticides, and use of fossil fuels have negatively impacted the habitat and food cycle of bees, acted as a strong limiting factor on the resources available to the bees and on their population growth. This has reduced the carrying capacity of bees, and resulted in the bee population reaching a plateau at a significantly lower level than before.
A picture is worth many words, some say:
This is a graph of population growth in the US, Canada, and South Dakota from 1935 to 2015
This is a graph of bee colony changes in the US
This is a graph of bee colony changes in Canada and South Dakota
We can clearly see that human population growth in the US and Canada has led to decline in bee colonies. On the other hand, South Dakota's flat population growth has led to increasing bee colonies in that state.
This negative overall trend, if not reversed, will get worse.
It may not be too late for us to change our ways to lessen our negative effects on the environment. But, if we never change our ways, it will defiantly be too late to save the environment.
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