Effect of Heavy Metal Contamination on Pollinator Health and Pollination Services
Urban soils generally have elevated levels of heavy metals from a legacy of anthropogenic contamination and little is known about heavy metals’ impacts on the biota that provide ecosystem services. As part of work with Mary Gardiner, we demonstrated that bee visit duration was significantly shorter at sunflowers grown in lead-contaminated soil compared to sunflowers grown in uncontaminated soil (Sivakoff and Gardiner 2017 Urban Ecosystems) suggesting that pollination services may be reduced in sites with high heavy metal contamination.
We also investigated whether foraging within heavy metal contaminated landscapes represents a fitness cost for the common Eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens, by placing colonies in residential backyards along an urban to rural gradient extending south and east from Cleveland, OH. We found that colonies located in urban landscapes were more likely to exposed to lead (Pb). Elevated concentrations of Pb within workers were negatively correlated with both the number of workers and the number of larvae present.
Along with Mary Gardiner, Reed Johnson, and Amy Toth (Iowa State University), we are investigating the lethal and sub-lethal effects of heavy metals on bumble bees through a USDA AFRI Foundational Program Grant.
A landscape legacy of surface mining: Understanding the impacts of soil properties on plant-pollinator interactions
Along with Karen Goodell, Rebecca Swab (The Wilds), and Andy McCall (Denison University), we are studying the impacts that soil properties of reclaimed surface mine land have on plant-pollinator interactions at The Wilds. The Wilds is one of the largest areas of recovering reclaimed surface mine land in North America (4,655 acres reclaimed), and almost 700 of those acres have been transformed into prairie habitats. Reclaimed lands are stressful environments for plants, animals, and microorganisms; the soils at these sites are often highly compacted, have low nutrient availability, and have higher concentrations of heavy metals compared to unmined soils. During 2019-202, this work is being funded by an OSU/Columbus Zoo collaborative grant.