Domestic Gardens Mitigate Risk of Exposure of Pollinators to Pesticides—An Urban-Rural Case Study Using a Red Mason Bee Species for Biomonitoring

Martin Šlachta, Tomáš Erban, Alena Votavová, Tomáš Bešta, Michal Skalský, Marta Václavíková, Taťána Halešová, Magda Edwards-Jonášová, Renata Včeláková and Pavel Cudlín
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Martin Šlachta: Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lipová 1789/9, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Tomáš Erban: Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507/73, 161 06 Praha 6-Ruzyně, Czech Republic
Alena Votavová: Agricultural Research, Ltd., Zahradní 1, 664 41 Troubsko, Czech Republic
Tomáš Bešta: Institute of Hydrobiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Sádkách 702/7, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Michal Skalský: Research and Breeding Institute of Pomology Holovousy Ltd., Holovousy 129, 508 01 Hořice, Czech Republic
Marta Václavíková: ALS Limited, ALS Czech Republic, Na Harfě 336/9, 190 00 Praha 9-Vysočany, Czech Republic
Taťána Halešová: ALS Limited, ALS Czech Republic, Na Harfě 336/9, 190 00 Praha 9-Vysočany, Czech Republic
Magda Edwards-Jonášová: Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lipová 1789/9, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Renata Včeláková: Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lipová 1789/9, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Pavel Cudlín: Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lipová 1789/9, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: Domestic gardens supply pollinators with valuable habitats, but the risk of exposure to pesticides has been little investigated. Artificial nesting shelters of a red mason bee species ( Osmia bicornis ) were placed in two suburban gardens and two commercial fruit orchards to determine the contamination of forage sources by pesticides. Larval pollen provisions were collected from a total of 14 nests. They consisted mainly of pollen from oaks (65–100% weight/sample), Brassicaceae (≤34% w/s) and fruit trees (≤1.6% w/s). Overall, 30 pesticides were detected and each sample contained a mixture of 11–21 pesticide residues. The pesticide residues were significantly lower in garden samples than in orchard samples. The difference was attributed mainly to the abundant fungicides pyrimethanil and boscalid, which were sprayed in fruit orchards and were present on average at 1004 ppb and 648 ppb in orchard samples, respectively. The results suggested that pollinators can benefit from domestic gardens by foraging from floral sources less contaminated by pesticides than in adjacent croplands.

Keywords: Osmia bicornis; urban green space; wild bees; fungicides; insecticides; pyrimethanil; boscalid; thiacloprid; acetamiprid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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