Climate change predicted to exacerbate bee declines

On page 342, Kazenei etai? provide evidence of the direct physiological effects of extreme climate conditions on the long-term population stability of bees, and on page 337, Ghisbain etai? predict striking declines in bumblebees, including in many species currently listed in the least concern' category of threatened species in the influential listings by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Previous research in this area has focused mainly on temperature limits that would prevent bee survival59 11 but this metric, although important, does not reflect all the physiological effects of climate change, such as those driven by drought. Using a compilation of historical and contemporary data sets collected between 1901 and 1970, and 2000 and 2014, the authors report (Fig. la) that changes in climate, land use and human population size have made parts of Europe less suitable for many bumblebee species.