Pollinators in Crisis: the Birds, the Bats, and the Bees

Wed, Oct 1, 2008

Bombus appositus, visiting a flower of Corydalis caseana in Colorado by Dr. David Inouye
Birds, bees, bats and other species that pollinate North American plant life are in decline due to environmental stress and disease. What are the threats currently facing wild and managed pollinators and how can we reverse this trend? “Anybody who likes to eat should care about what’s happening to pollinators,” says Dr. David Hawthorne , Associate Professor of Entomology. “About 30% of our food depends on them.” Foods like chocolate, almonds and other nuts, berries, and many fruits and vegetables would not be part of our diet without the work of pollinators.  

Understanding Pollination and Where Our Food Comes From

They Speak for the Bees: Honeybee Colony Collapse Research at Maryland



Across the country, bee populations are disappearing, threatening America's food supply, as one-third of our agricultural crops is pollinated by bees. That's $15 billion in crops each year. One major threat is Colony Collapse Disorder, which has been reported in more than 35 states.

The Department of Entomology hosted a meeting on Bioscience Day on November 12, 2008 that aimed to identify and engage Maryland's research, alumni, and extension communities in addressing the crisis of Colony Collapse Disorder and issues regarding honeybees and pollination. More information about these emerging partnerships can be found on the Maryland Honeybee Working Group website.
Hawthorne starting teaching the course Pollinators in Crisis in 2007, which he created for the Marquee Courses in Science and Technology program developed at the University of Maryland to address the national need to increase the appreciation and understanding of how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can provide solutions to present and future world challenges. “This class is an opportunity to talk about where our food comes from and how lots of parts of the natural world contribute to our food, and how those parts contribute to our well being in general,” Hawthorne explains. 

Designed for students not majoring in the sciences, the Pollinators in Crisis course begins by introducing students to the important role that pollinators play in natural and managed ecosystems and to the current scientific understanding of what is causing declines in their populations. “Students who are generally afraid of science are getting jazzed about it because we start with an interesting topic and then build up to the scientific content in the context of that,” says Dr. Hawthorne about what makes this course different than other science courses. 

Investigating Colony Collapse Disorder 

Shortly after Hawthorne launched the course, the news was flooded with reports about “colony collapse disorder” – the abrupt disappearance of honeybee populations throughout North America without apparent cause – which only served to reinforce the timely relevance of the topic.  This year, the class filled quickly and had a very long waiting list to get into one of its 125 seats.

Guest experts from the USDA provide students with timely insights about the evolving research related to colony collapse disorder. The course also features research by College of Chemical and Life Sciences faculty, including that of Dr. David Inouye , Professor of Biology and director of the Sustainability and Conservation Biology Program, who has documented the role that global warming is playing in the decline of pollinator populations in the Rocky Mountains. His work has shown that climate change has disrupted how wildflowers are adapted to their environment and that earlier flowering has meant that many flowers are being destroyed by frost and some plant species may be diverging from their pollinators in their timing of seasonal activity. Dr. Galen Dively, Professor Emeritus of Entomology, is exploring the impact of agricultural practices such as pesticide use and genetically modified corn on bee populations. He is looking at the long-term impact of transgenic corn pollen on honeybee survival and behavior.  

Colony collapse disorder has brought an urgency to the issue of pollinator health and survival, and with it an abundance of viral internet theories about what is causing it. Hawthorne welcomes this phenomenon as a teaching opportunity to discuss how you know something is true and how to evaluate the scientific methods behind a particular explanation of events. The Pollinators in Crisis course is introducing students not only to the issues of the birds and the bees and how plant sex happens, but also to what Hawthorne calls “a core set of scientific values” that will help students appreciate science and see how they can use it everyday. “Our students are going to be important citizens, they are going to be parents, they might be congressional staffers or other civic leaders, and they may not need to remember so much of the topical information of each course, but they will benefit from understanding a core set of scientific values that this class teaches,” Hawthorne says.