Climate change and health

By 2050 people around the world will be at risk related to the ‘big 7’ climate-related diseases: malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, sleeping sickness, Chagas’ disease, Leishmaniasis, and river blindness. Four of the ‘big 7’ are zoonoses. This presentation reports on climate sensitive diseases. A better coordinated and maintained surveillance and response system in Kenya would allow for improved health management in situations of emergencies and natural disasters

Bee diversity and floral resources along a disturbance gradient in Kaya Muhaka forest and surrounding farmlands of coastal Kenya

Bees provide important pollination services that maintain native plant populations and ecosystem resilience, which is critical to the conservation of the rich and endemic biodiversity of Kaya forests along the Kenyan Coast. This study examined bee composition and floral resources from the forest core to the surrounding farmlands around Kaya Muhaka forest. In total, 755 individual bees, representing 41 species from three families were recorded: Apidae, Halictidae and Megachilidae. Overall, Apidae were the most abundant with a proportion of 76% of the total bee individuals, Halictidae at 14% and Megachilidae at 10%. Bee composition was similar between forest edge and crop fields as compared to forest core and fallow farmlands. We found a significant decrease in bee diversity with increasing distance from the forest to the surrounding farming area. A high abundance of bees was recorded in fallow farmland, which could be explained by the high abundance of floral resources in the habitat. We found floral resources richness to significantly affect bee species richness. These findings are important for understanding the effects of land use change on insect pollinators and their degree of resilience in disturbed habitat

Q-Storming’ to identify challenges and opportunities for integrating health and climate adaptation measures in Africa

Introduction Climate factors influence the state of human health and wellbeing. Climate-related threats are particularly being experienced by vulnerable populations in Africa. A Question (Q)-Storming session was convened at an international climate adaptation conference. It promoted dialog among a diverse spectrum of researchers, climate and medical scientists, health professionals, national government officials, civil society, business, and international governing organizations. The session identified approaches for the effective integration of health within African national climate adaptation policies. Materials and methods Two organizations partnered to convene the session at the Adaptations Futures 2018 Conference in Cape Town. Q-storming (which is an inverse approach to brainstorming) was applied to extract ideas from all participants. Four topics were presented during the session: (i) adaptive capacities related to climate change and infectious diseases; (ii) adaptive capacity of African governments in relation to health and climate change; (iii) making climate science work to protect the health of vulnerable populations; and (iv) making climate-health research usable. Results Nine cross-cutting adaptation themes were generated (i.e. key definitions, adaptive capacity, health sector priorities, resources, operational capacities and procedures, contextual conditions, information pathways, and information utility). The Q-Storming approach was a valuable tool for improving the understanding of the complexities of climate-health research collaborations, and priority identification for improved adaptation and service delivery. Conclusion Concerted recognition regarding difficulties in linking climate science and health vulnerability at the interface of practitioners and decision-makers is required, for better integration and use of climate-health research in climate adaptation in Africa. This can be achieved by innovations offered through Q-Storming

Investigating the Viral Ecology of Global Bee Communities with High-Throughput Metagenomics

Bee viral ecology is a fascinating emerging area of research: viruses exert a range of effects on their hosts, exacerbate the impacts of other environmental stressors, and, importantly, are readily shared across multiple bee species in a community. However, our understanding of bee viral communities is limited, as it is primarily derived from studies of North American and European Apis mellifera populations. Here, we examined viruses in populations of A. mellifera and 11 other bee species from 9 countries, across 5 continents and Oceania. We developed a novel pipeline to rapidly, inexpensively, and robustly screen for bee viruses. This pipeline includes purification of encapsulated RNA/DNA viruses, sequence-independent amplification, high throughput sequencing, integrated assembly of contigs, and filtering to identify contigs specifically corresponding to viral sequences. We identified sequences corresponding to (+)ssRNA, (-)ssRNA, dsRNA, and ssDNA viruses. Overall, we found 127 contigs corresponding to novel viruses (i.e. previously not observed in bees), with 29 represented by \u3e0.1% of the reads in a given sample. These viruses and viral families were distributed across multiple regions and species. This study provides a robust pipeline for metagenomics analysis of viruses, and greatly expands our understanding of the diversity of viruses found in bee communities

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Bee diversity and floral resources along a disturbance gradient in Kaya Muhaka forest and surrounding farmlands of coastal Kenya

Article abstractKaya forests are rich in biodiversity and endemism along the coastal ecosystems of Kenya. The role of bees in pollination service that maintains native plant populations and resilience of such critical ecosystems is unprecedented. This study examined the diversity and floral resources for bees in Kaya Muhaka forest, forest edge, surrounding fallow farmlands and crop fields along a disturbance gradient with aim of informing local conservation and livelihood projects. In total, 755 individual bees, representing 52 species were recorded. Families; Apidae, Halictidae and Megachilidae were recorded. Overall, Apidae were most abundant with a proportion of 76%, Halictidae at 14% and Megachilidae at 10%. Bee composition was closely similar between forest edge and crop fields as compared to other habitats. However, bee diversity did not change significantly with increasing distance from the forest to surrounding farmlands, a pointer to high resilience of bee species. High abundance of bee populations was recorded in fallow farmlands, explained by high abundance of floral resources in the habitat. We noted a significant effect of floral resources richness on bee species richness. We compare these results to several recent bee faunal surveys including surveys in other parts of East Africa, Europe and Asia. These findings are important for understanding the effects of land use change on bee populations for effective conservation planning.Kaya forests are rich in biodiversity and endemism along the coastal ecosystems of Kenya. The role of bees in pollination service that maintains native plant populations and resilience of such critical ecosystems is unprecedented. This study examined the diversity and floral resources for bees in Kaya Muhaka forest, forest edge, surrounding fallow farmlands and crop fields along a disturbance gradient with aim of informing local conservation and livelihood projects. In total, 755 individual bees, representing 52 species were r ecorded. Families; Apidae, Halictidae and Megachilidae were recorded. Overall, Apidae were mo st abundant with a proportion of 76%, Halictidae at 14% and Megachilidae at 10%. Bee comp osition was closely similar between forest edge and crop fields as compared to other habitats. However, bee diversity did not change significantly with increasing distance from the for est to surrounding farmlands, a pointer to high resilience of bee species. High abundance of bee po pulations was recorded in fallow farmlands, explained by high abundance of floral resources in the habitat. We noted a significant effect of floral resources richness on bee species richness. We compare these results to several recent bee faunal surveys including surveys in other parts of East Africa, Europe and Asia. These findings are important for understanding the effects of land use change on bee populations for effective conservation planning

Bee diversity along a forest regeneration gradient in Western Kenya

Gikungu M, Wittmann D, Irungu D, Kraemer M. Bee diversity along a forest regeneration gradient in Western Kenya. Journal of Apicultural Research. 2011;50(1):22-34.Changes in bee species richness and diversity were studied along a forest regeneration gradient in seven sites in Buyangu Nature Reserve, Kakamega Forest, Kenya. At each site, 12 belt transects of 100 m length and 2 m width were established. The selected sites ranged from relatively undisturbed primary to late secondary forests, bush lands and the surrounding farming areas. A total of 4,485 individuals were identified out of 234 species of bee in four families. A Renyi Diversity Index was used to analyse bee diversity. One-way measures of ANOVA were calculated for bee diversity and species richness, with study sites and year as independent factors. The highest species richness and bee diversity were recorded in the open areas followed by secondary forests while evenness was higher in forested sites. There was a general similarity between sites in bee species composition, especially between those of almost similar vegetation structure. This similarity was suspected to have important implications in promoting current understanding of ecological resilience of bees in tropical ecosystems. The study concludes that the future of forest biodiversity and pollination services are dependent on strategic and holistic management of natural forests, secondary forests and the neighbouring agro-ecosystems

Diversity and abundance of native bees foraging on hedgerow plants in the Kakamega farmlands, western Kenya

Mwangi D, Kasina M, Nderitu J, Hagen M, Gikungu M, Kraemer M. Diversity and abundance of native bees foraging on hedgerow plants in the Kakamega farmlands, western Kenya. Journal Of Apicultural Research. 2012;51(4):298-305.We determined the diversity and abundance of native bees foraging on hedgerow flowers, and documented the plant species composition of those hedgerows, from October 2008 to March 2009 at Kakamega, western Kenya. We made observations on hedgerow sectors located in five different land use types: Kakamega forest; roads; sugarcane plantations; maize / bean fields; and grazing land. Our findings show that a high diversity of bees is supported by the hedgerows, and that bee diversity and abundance significantly (P < 0.05) differed across the five land use types. A total of 82 bee species belonging to three families (Apidae, Megachilidae and Halictidae) were recorded, with Apidae having the highest species richness and abundance. The suitability of hedgerow plants as bee forage sources differed greatly, except for Megachilid bees. Most important bee plants belonged to the families Acanthaceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae. We conclude that hedgerow plants play an important role in providing bee food resources and can be used for managing bees in Kakamega farmed areas. We also suggest the inclusion of hedgerows in community based management of bees in areas where hedgerows are present or have viability to succeed, as they can support bee life and hence the pollination of crops in agricultural ecosystems

Biocultural diversity, pollinators and their socio-cultural values

[Extract] Diverse knowledge systems, including science and indigenous and local knowledge (ILK), contribute to understanding pollinators and pollination, their economic, environmental and socio-cultural values and their management globally(well established). Scientific knowledge provides extensive and multidimensional understanding of pollinators and pollination, resulting in detailed understanding of their diversity, functions and steps needed to protect pollinators and the values they produce. In indigenous and local knowledge systems, pollination processes are often understood, celebrated and managed holistically in terms of maintaining values through fostering fertility, fecundity, spirituality and diversity of farms, gardens, and other habitats. The combined use of economic, socio-cultural and holistic valuation of pollinator gains and losses, using multiple knowledge systems, brings different perspectives from different stakeholder groups, providing more information for the management of and decision-making about pollinators and pollination, although key knowledge gaps remain

CropPol : a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open, and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e., berry mass, number of fruits, and fruit density [kg/ha], among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), North America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-2005 (21 studies), 2006-2010 (40), 2011-2015 (88), and 2016-2020 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA)