Polinizadores silvestres en cultivos extensivos.Toxicidad de insecticidas con distinto modo de acción usando como modelo el abejorro Bombus terrestris

Resumo

Insect pollination is an essential ecosystem service for the subsistence of wild plants and for agriculture, and it is essential for human food security. In recent decades, a global decline in insect pollinator populations has been observed, affecting not only the honey bee (Apis mellifera), but also wild pollinator communities. Several factors have been identified as the cause of this decline, one of them being the increased use of plant protection products in agriculture, as bees are exposed to them when they are collecting pollen and nectar in and around crops. Within the wide variety of plant protection products, the neonicotinoid insecticides have been identified as one of the main causes implicated in this decline. Different studies had already demonstrated their lethal and sublethal toxic effects on different pollinators. Therefore, in 2018, the European Commission banned the outdoor use of three of them, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin. This ban mainly affected European maize, sunflower and oil seed rape crops, which used them in coated seeds. Following this ban, farmers sought alternatives to their use to protect their crops. One of the first options was to replace them with other insecticides of the same family, such as thiacloprid and acetamiprid...