Booton, R.D., Iwasa, Y., Marshall, J.A.R. et al. (1 more author) (2017) Stress-mediated allee effects can cause the sudden collapse of honey bee colonies. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 420. pp. 213-219. ISSN 0022-5193
Abstract
The recent rapid decline in global honey bee populations could have significant implications for ecological systems, economics and food security. No single cause of honey bee collapse has yet to be identified, although pesticides, mites and other pathogens have all been shown to have a sublethal effect. We present a model of a functioning bee hive and introduce external stress to investigate the impact on the regulatory processes of recruitment to the forager class, social inhibition and the laying rate of the queen. The model predicts that constant density-dependent stress acting through an Allee effect on the hive can result in sudden catastrophic switches in dynamical behaviour and the eventual collapse of the hive. The model proposes that around a critical point the hive undergoes a saddle-node bifurcation, and that a small increase in model parameters can have irreversible consequences for the entire hive. We predict that increased stress levels can be counteracted by a higher laying rate of the queen, lower levels of forager recruitment or lower levels of natural mortality of foragers, and that increasing social inhibition can not maintain the colony under high levels of stress. We lay the theoretical foundation for sudden honey bee collapse in order to facilitate further experimental and theoretical consideration.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Theoretical Biology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Allee effects; Colony collapse disorder; Honey bees; Population dynamics; Saddle-node bifurcation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Mar 2017 11:37 |
Last Modified: | 28 Jul 2023 13:33 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.03.009 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:114095 |
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