Design and Planning of a Transdisciplinary Investigation into Farmland Pollinators: Rationale, Co-Design, and Lessons Learned

Simon Hodge (), Oliver Schweiger, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Simon G. Potts, Cecilia Costa, Matthias Albrecht, Joachim R. de Miranda, Marika Mand, Pilar De la Rúa, Maj Rundlöf, Eleanor Attridge, Robin Dean, Philippe Bulet, Denis Michez, Robert J. Paxton, Aurélie Babin, Nicolas Cougoule, Marion Laurent, Anne-Claire Martel, Laurianne Paris, Marie-Pierre Rivière, Eric Dubois, Marie-Pierre Chauzat, Karim Arafah, Dalel Askri, Sebastien N. Voisin, Tomasz Kiljanek, Irene Bottero, Christophe Dominik, Giovanni Tamburini, Maria Helena Pereira-Peixoto, Dimitry Wintermantel, Tom D. Breeze, Elena Cini, Deepa Senapathi, Gennaro Di Prisco, Piotr Medrzycki, Steffen Hagenbucher, Anina Knauer, Janine M. Schwarz, Risto Raimets, Vicente Martínez-López, Kjell Ivarsson, Chris Hartfield, Pamela Hunter, Mark J. F. Brown and Jane C. Stout
Additional contact information
Simon Hodge: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland
Oliver Schweiger: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, 06120 Halle, Germany
Alexandra-Maria Klein: Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
Simon G. Potts: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading RG6 6AH, UK
Cecilia Costa: CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, 40128 Bologna, Italy
Matthias Albrecht: Agroscope, Agroecology and Environment, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Joachim R. de Miranda: Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Marika Mand: Department of Plant Protection, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
Pilar De la Rúa: Dpto. Zoología y Antropología Física, Veterinary Faculty, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Maj Rundlöf: Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 81 Lund, Sweden
Eleanor Attridge: The Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Associations, R35 K6C5 Tullamore, Ireland
Robin Dean: Red Beehive, Bishops Waltham SO32 1RN, UK
Philippe Bulet: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 38000 Grenoble, France
Denis Michez: Laboratoire de Zoologie, University of Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgium
Robert J. Paxton: Department of General Zoology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, Germany
Aurélie Babin: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Nicolas Cougoule: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Marion Laurent: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Anne-Claire Martel: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Laurianne Paris: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Marie-Pierre Rivière: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Eric Dubois: Unit of Honey Bee Pathology, Sophia Antipolis Laboratory, ANSES, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France
Marie-Pierre Chauzat: Laboratory for Animal Health, ANSES, Paris-Est University, 94701 Maisons-Alfort, France
Karim Arafah: BioPark Platform, 74160 Archamps, France
Dalel Askri: BioPark Platform, 74160 Archamps, France
Sebastien N. Voisin: BioPark Platform, 74160 Archamps, France
Tomasz Kiljanek: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Veterinary Research Institute, Aleja Partyzantów 57, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
Irene Bottero: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland
Christophe Dominik: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, 06120 Halle, Germany
Giovanni Tamburini: Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
Maria Helena Pereira-Peixoto: Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
Dimitry Wintermantel: Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
Tom D. Breeze: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading RG6 6AH, UK
Elena Cini: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading RG6 6AH, UK
Deepa Senapathi: Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading RG6 6AH, UK
Gennaro Di Prisco: CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, 40128 Bologna, Italy
Piotr Medrzycki: CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, 40128 Bologna, Italy
Steffen Hagenbucher: Agroscope, Agroecology and Environment, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Anina Knauer: Agroscope, Agroecology and Environment, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Janine M. Schwarz: Agroscope, Agroecology and Environment, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Risto Raimets: Department of Plant Protection, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
Vicente Martínez-López: Dpto. Zoología y Antropología Física, Veterinary Faculty, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Kjell Ivarsson: Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), 105 33 Stockholm, Sweden
Chris Hartfield: National Farmers Union, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh CV8 2TZ, UK
Pamela Hunter: British Beekeepers Association, The National Beekeeping Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LG, UK
Mark J. F. Brown: Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK
Jane C. Stout: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-30

Abstract: To provide a complete portrayal of the multiple factors negatively impacting insects in agricultural landscapes it is necessary to assess the concurrent incidence, magnitude, and interactions among multiple stressors over substantial biogeographical scales. Trans-national ecological field investigations with wide-ranging stakeholders typically encounter numerous challenges during the design planning stages, not least that the scientific soundness of a spatially replicated study design must account for the substantial geographic and climatic variation among distant sites. ‘PoshBee’ (Pan-European assessment, monitoring, and mitigation of Stressors on the Health of Bees) is a multi-partner transdisciplinary agroecological project established to investigate the suite of stressors typically encountered by pollinating insects in European agricultural landscapes. To do this, PoshBee established a network of 128 study sites across eight European countries and collected over 50 measurements and samples relating to the nutritional, toxicological, pathogenic, and landscape components of the bees’ environment. This paper describes the development process, rationale, and end-result of each aspect of the of the PoshBee field investigation. We describe the main issues and challenges encountered during the design stages and highlight a number of actions or processes that may benefit other multi-partner research consortia planning similar large-scale studies. It was soon identified that in a multi-component study design process, the development of interaction and communication networks involving all collaborators and stakeholders requires considerable time and resources. It was also necessary at each planning stage to be mindful of the needs and objectives of all stakeholders and partners, and further challenges inevitably arose when practical limitations, such as time restrictions and labour constraints, were superimposed upon prototype study designs. To promote clarity for all stakeholders, for each sub-component of the study, there should be a clear record of the rationale and reasoning that outlines how the final design transpired, what compromises were made, and how the requirements of different stakeholders were accomplished. Ultimately, multi-national agroecological field studies such as PoshBee benefit greatly from the involvement of diverse stakeholders and partners, ranging from field ecologists, project managers, policy legislators, mathematical modelers, and farmer organisations. While the execution of the study highlighted the advantages and benefits of large-scale transdisciplinary projects, the long planning period emphasized the need to formally describe a design framework that could facilitate the design process of future multi-partner collaborations.

Keywords: bees; bee pathogens; insect declines; landscape ecology; pan-European; pesticides; pollinators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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