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Sean Nash

Bee body mass, pathogens and local climate influence heat tolerance - 1 views

phys.org/...body-mass-pathogens-local.html

climatechange climate bees heat pathogens size mass HSR HSR-2025 science environmental questions biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 07 May 24 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • "But few studies have examined biotic impacts, such as pathogen infection, on thermal tolerance in natural populations in combination with abiotic factors," she explained.
  • examined bee physical traits—such as sex differences in body mass—to understand how these traits interact with environmental conditions, pathogens and other factors
  • They found that variation in heat tolerance was influenced by size, sex and infection status of the bees. "Small-bodied, ectothermic—or cold-blooded—insects are considered to be highly vulnerable to changing climate because their ability to maintain proper body temperature depends on external conditions,"
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • researchers hypothesized that the bees' heat tolerance would increase with body size; that male heat tolerance would increase with ambient temperatures above ground whereas female heat tolerance would increase with sandier soils; and that parasite infection would reduce heat tolerance
  • To test these hypotheses, the researchers collected squash bees from 14 sites across Pennsylvania that varied in mean temperature, precipitation and soil texture. They measured individuals' critical thermal maximum—the temperature above which an organism cannot function—as a proxy for heat tolerance
  • Although both sexes showed a positive correlation between heat tolerance and size, male squash bees had a greater change in their critical thermal maximum per unit body mass than females, suggesting that there may be another biological trait influencing the impact of body mass on heat tolerance that differs between the sexes
  • Sean Nash on 07 May 24
     
    There is a strong feasibility element to this sort of work. Being invertebrates, there would be no problem collecting large numbers of bees from the environment for testing. Now... how that is typically done in other research studies... is something to dig into. The challenge here would be the observation/measurement of parasites (like the trypanosomes mentioned here). It might be worth digging into microdissection methods and techniques that others have reported on when working with pollinators and other small insects. It might not be impossible, even in our lab, but it would definitely be a (good) challenge and perhaps something we could find an expert to help us with.
Kylie John

Traces of bird flu are showing up in cow milk. Here's what to know - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/...ird-flu-cows-milk-virus-health

shared by Kylie John on 08 May 24 - No Cached
  • “The challenge that I see right now on U.S. farms is a virus getting into hogs,” Osterholm says. Pigs carry receptors similar to the ones found in both humans and birds, making swine a hog-heaven for bird flus that have potential to become a pandemic.
    • Kylie John
      Kylie John on 08 May 24
       
      How come pigs have similar receptors as us
  • “The challenge that I see right now on U.S. farms is a virus getting into hogs,” Osterholm says. Pigs carry receptors similar to the ones found in both humans and birds, making swine a hog-heaven for bird flus that have potential to become a pandemic.
  • Sean Nash on 08 May 24
     
    Be sure you are tagging articles when you bookmark them. I don't see any tags on this one, and I only see one on the other, "ice." Also... this is a SUPER interesting topic. However, we'd have way more than an uphill climb working with any sort of known pathogens (even potential pathogens) if we could even get our hands on them.
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