Honeybee shortage threatens crop pollination in Europe
In more than half of European countries, there are not enough
honeybees to pollinate crops, according to new research.
Scientists believe that a boom in biofuels has sparked a massive
increase in the need for pollination. The shortage is particularly acute
in Britain which has only a quarter of the honeybees needed.
The researchers believe that wild pollinators including bumblebees
and hoverflies are making up the shortfall. The study was published in
the journal Plos One.
Honeybees in the UK and elsewhere had been in decline in recent
years, with pesticide use and disease being blamed for losses. Across
Europe though, overall numbers of honeybee colonies increased by 7%
across 41 countries between 2005 and 2010. But in the same period, the
area of biofuel feed crops, like oilseed rape, sunflowers and soybeans,
increased by almost a third.
"There have been big increases in lots of countries with oilseed
rape," said lead author Dr Tom Breeze from the University of Reading.
"In Greece in 2005, there were a few hundred hectares grown, but
since then it has exploded because they can get biofuel subsidies for
it," he said.
Scientists said that the deficit across Europe now amounts to 13.4
million colonies or around seven billion honeybees. The research
suggested that much of the work is now being done by wild pollinators
including bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies.
Britain is one of the countries with the biggest shortfall - only
Moldova, with an economy 300 times smaller than the UK, has a bigger
honeybee shortage.
Little is known about the number of wild pollinating species as they
are not being monitored in the UK. The researchers believe this reliance
on them could be hampering yields and putting UK crops at risk.
"We face a catastrophe in future years unless we act now," said Prof
Simon Potts, from the University of Reading, a co-author on the paper.
"Wild pollinators need greater protection. They are the unsung heroes
of the countryside, providing a critical link in the food chain for
humans and doing work for free that would otherwise cost British farmers
£1.8 billion to replace."
The UK apple industry is particularly dependent on pollinators said
the researchers.
The wild creatures add £37 million a year to the value of just two
varieties of British apples, Gala and Cox.
"Pollinators not only increase the number but improve the quality of
the apples you get. They are bigger, firmer and sell at a better price,"
said Dr Breeze.
If anything happened to these wild species, the industry would be in
trouble he said. "We just don't have the honeybees to compensate for
them," Dr Breeze said.
While steps have been taken at the EU level to protect bees by
introducing a moratorium on neonicotinoid pesticides, the researchers
said other European legislation is exacerbating the pollinator shortage.
Under the EU renewable fuel directive, 10% of transport fuel must
come from renewable sources by 2020, though the final figure is still
being negotiated.
Whatever the ultimate target, the directive has seen large increases
in the planting of oil crops including soybeans, oil palm and oilseed
rape.
"There is a growing disconnection between agricultural and
environmental policies across Europe," said Prof Potts.
"Farmers are encouraged to grow oil crops, yet there is not enough
joined-up thinking about how to help the insects that will pollinate
them.
We need a proper strategy across Europe to conserve wild bees and
pollinators through habitat protection, agricultural policy and farming
methods - or we risk big financial losses to the farming sector and a
potential food security crisis," he said.
BBC
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