US Wild Bee Numbers Decline as Land Is Converted for Biofuel
by Matt McGrath (BBC News) Wild bees in the US have declined in many farming areas according to the first national effort to map their numbers. — The study suggests that between 2008 and 2013, the numbers of wild bees went down across almost a quarter of the US.
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To map the abundance of wild bees across the country, this model combines a number of databases with expert opinion.
The results show that numbers of wild bees likely declined by 23% between 2008 and 2013 in key agricultural regions in California, the Midwest, in Great Plains states and in the Mississippi river valley.
The study also showed that 39% of US croplands that depend on pollinators are suffering a significant mismatch between the demand for pollination and the supply of bees.
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The most important reason for the decline in numbers according to the authors is the increased demand for biofuels, which has seen more land turned over to growing grains.
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While concerns over bee decline in Europe have focussed on the impact of neonicotinoid chemicals on insects of all varieties, this study wasn’t able to extract specific information on the use of pesticides.
However the authors are in little doubt that chemicals are having an impact. READ MORE (unable to find link to referenced PNAS study) and MORE (Biofuels Digest)
Excerpt from Biofuels Digest: Most recently, a report out of the University of Vermont that correlates a drop in wild bee populations with habitat destruction caused by “the expansion of corn for ethanol”.
US corn plantings are up, no doubt about it. In fact, since the mid-1980s, when ethanol first appeared om the horizon, they’re up 5%.
Whoops. 5%. Surely that’s a typo? ‘Fraid not. In fact, overall US grain acreage is down substantially from its historical highs. And in the case of the wild bees, it’s cultivated grain acreage that we need to look at, not just one crop, as bees would be just as affected, wouldn’t they, by a massive expansion of barley if it destroyed habitat, right?)
Here’s the hard data. US grain production hit its peak, at 185 million acres, in 1932-33. One of the reasons that the farm sector went into a tremendous downward price spiral that year. Today, US grain acreage is down to 103 million acres. almost 45% off the historic high.
Corn itself? 1932-33 was the high, 113 million acres. Today? 88 million, or 22% off the historic high. READ MORE
