Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
16,053
result(s) for
"Brown, Mark"
Sort by:
Sulfoxaflor exposure reduces bumblebee reproductive success
Intensive agriculture currently relies on pesticides to maximize crop yield
1
,
2
. Neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticides globally
3
, but increasing evidence of negative impacts on important pollinators
4
–
9
and other non-target organisms
10
has led to legislative reassessment and created demand for the development of alternative products. Sulfoximine-based insecticides are the most likely successor
11
, and are either licensed for use or under consideration for licensing in several worldwide markets
3
, including within the European Union
12
, where certain neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam) are now banned from agricultural use outside of permanent greenhouse structures. There is an urgent need to pre-emptively evaluate the potential sub-lethal effects of sulfoximine-based pesticides on pollinators
11
, because such effects are rarely detected by standard ecotoxicological assessments, but can have major impacts at larger ecological scales
13
–
15
. Here we show that chronic exposure to the sulfoximine-based insecticide sulfoxaflor, at dosages consistent with potential post-spray field exposure, has severe sub-lethal effects on bumblebee (
Bombus terrestris
) colonies. Field-based colonies that were exposed to sulfoxaflor during the early growth phase produced significantly fewer workers than unexposed controls, and ultimately produced fewer reproductive offspring. Differences between the life-history trajectories of treated and control colonies first became apparent when individuals exposed as larvae began to emerge, suggesting that direct or indirect effects on a small cohort may have cumulative long-term consequences for colony fitness. Our results caution against the use of sulfoximines as a direct replacement for neonicotinoids. To avoid continuing cycles of novel pesticide release and removal, with concomitant impacts on the environment, a broad evidence base needs to be assessed prior to the development of policy and regulation.
Chronic exposure to sulfoxaflor (a sulfoximine-based insecticide) has severe sub-lethal effects on bumblebee (
Bombus terrestris
) colonies; exposed colonies produced fewer workers and fewer reproductive offspring than unexposed control colonies.
Journal Article
Sun, wind, and light: architectural design strategies
\"This fully updated Third Edition covers principles of designing buildings that use the sun for heating, wind for cooling, and daylight for natural lighting. Using hundreds of illustrations and companion CD-ROM, this book offers practical strategies that give the designer the tools they need to make energy efficient buildings\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Agrochemicals interact synergistically to increase bee mortality
Global concern over widely documented declines in pollinators
1
–
3
has led to the identification of anthropogenic stressors that, individually, are detrimental to bee populations
4
–
7
. Synergistic interactions between these stressors could substantially amplify the environmental effect of these stressors and could therefore have important implications for policy decisions that aim to improve the health of pollinators
3
,
8
,
9
. Here, to quantitatively assess the scale of this threat, we conducted a meta-analysis of 356 interaction effect sizes from 90 studies in which bees were exposed to combinations of agrochemicals, nutritional stressors and/or parasites. We found an overall synergistic effect between multiple stressors on bee mortality. Subgroup analysis of bee mortality revealed strong evidence for synergy when bees were exposed to multiple agrochemicals at field-realistic levels, but interactions were not greater than additive expectations when bees were exposed to parasites and/or nutritional stressors. All interactive effects on proxies of fitness, behaviour, parasite load and immune responses were either additive or antagonistic; therefore, the potential mechanisms that drive the observed synergistic interactions for bee mortality remain unclear. Environmental risk assessment schemes that assume additive effects of the risk of agrochemical exposure may underestimate the interactive effect of anthropogenic stressors on bee mortality and will fail to protect the pollinators that provide a key ecosystem service that underpins sustainable agriculture.
A meta-analysis of studies in which bees were exposed to combinations of agrochemicals, nutritional stressors and/or parasites revealed evidence for synergistic effects on mortality when bees were exposed to multiple agrochemicals at field-realistic levels.
Journal Article
How airplanes get from here... to there!
\"Learn all about the soaring science behind aerodynamic airplanes\"--Publisher.
Book
Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
Pollinators, particularly wild bees, are suffering declines across the globe, and pesticides are thought to be drivers of these declines. Research into, and regulation of pesticides has focused on the active ingredients, and their impact on bee health. In contrast, the additional components in pesticide formulations have been overlooked as potential threats. By testing an acute oral dose of the fungicide product Amistar, and equivalent doses of each individual co-formulant, we were able to measure the toxicity of the formulation and identify the ingredient responsible. We found that a co-formulant, alcohol ethoxylates, caused a range of damage to bumble bee health. Exposure to alcohol ethoxylates caused 30% mortality and a range of sublethal effects. Alcohol ethoxylates treated bees consumed half as much sucrose as negative control bees over the course of the experiment and lost weight. Alcohol ethoxylates treated bees had significant melanisation of their midguts, evidence of gut damage. We suggest that this gut damage explains the reduction in appetite, weight loss and mortality, with bees dying from energy depletion. Our results demonstrate that sublethal impacts of pesticide formulations need to be considered during regulatory consideration, and that co-formulants can be more toxic than active ingredients.
Journal Article
Pesticide use negatively affects bumble bees across European landscapes
Sustainable agriculture requires balancing crop yields with the effects of pesticides on non-target organisms, such as bees and other crop pollinators. Field studies demonstrated that agricultural use of neonicotinoid insecticides can negatively affect wild bee species
1
,
2
, leading to restrictions on these compounds
3
. However, besides neonicotinoids, field-based evidence of the effects of landscape pesticide exposure on wild bees is lacking. Bees encounter many pesticides in agricultural landscapes
4
–
9
and the effects of this landscape exposure on colony growth and development of any bee species remains unknown. Here we show that the many pesticides found in bumble bee-collected pollen are associated with reduced colony performance during crop bloom, especially in simplified landscapes with intensive agricultural practices. Our results from 316
Bombus terrestris
colonies at 106 agricultural sites across eight European countries confirm that the regulatory system fails to sufficiently prevent pesticide-related impacts on non-target organisms, even for a eusocial pollinator species in which colony size may buffer against such impacts
10
,
11
. These findings support the need for postapproval monitoring of both pesticide exposure and effects to confirm that the regulatory process is sufficiently protective in limiting the collateral environmental damage of agricultural pesticide use.
Results from 316
Bombus terrestris
colonies at 106 agricultural sites across eight European countries find pesticides in bumble bee pollen to be associated with reduced colony performance, especially in areas of intensive agriculture.
Journal Article
Microbial modulation of cardiovascular disease
Although diet has long been known to contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD), research over the past decade has revealed an unexpected interplay between nutrient intake, gut microbial metabolism and the host to modify the risk of developing CVD. Microbial-associated molecular patterns are sensed by host pattern recognition receptors and have been suggested to drive CVD pathogenesis. In addition, the host microbiota produces various metabolites, such as trimethylamine-N-oxide, short-chain fatty acids and secondary bile acids, that affect CVD pathogenesis. These recent advances support the notion that targeting the interactions between the host and microorganisms may hold promise for the prevention or treatment of CVD. In this Review, we summarize our current knowledge of the gut microbial mechanisms that drive CVD, with special emphasis on therapeutic interventions, and we highlight the need to establish causal links between microbial pathways and CVD pathogenesis.
Journal Article