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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Buffered fitness components: Antagonism between malnutrition and an insecticide in bumble bees
ClearEffects of microplastic, heat and ozone on Bombus terrestris mortality and relative fat body content
This study tested how microplastic exposure, heat stress, and ozone affect bumblebee survival and fat reserves. The results showed that combining multiple stressors, including microplastics, had worse effects on bees than any single stressor alone. Bumblebee health matters to humans because these pollinators are essential for producing many fruits and vegetables in our food supply.
Assessing the effects of a commercial fungicide and an herbicide, alone and in combination, on Apis mellifera: Insights from biomarkers and cognitive analysis
Researchers tested the combined effects of a commercial fungicide and herbicide on honey bees and found that the mixture was more harmful than either chemical alone. The pesticide combination impaired the bees' cognitive abilities, disrupted detoxification enzymes, and increased oxidative stress markers. The study suggests that current risk assessments, which typically evaluate pesticides individually, may underestimate the real-world dangers bees face from chemical mixtures.
Microplastic ingestion and co-exposure to Nosema ceranae and flupyradifurone reduce the survival of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)
Researchers studied the combined effects of microplastics, the insecticide flupyradifurone, and the gut parasite Nosema ceranae on honey bee health. They found that all treatments reduced bee survival compared to controls, with the three-way combination being the most harmful, and that microplastics and the pesticide increased parasite reproduction. The study suggests that microplastics may worsen the effects of other stressors on bee health, compounding existing threats to pollinators.
Revealing antagonistic interactions in the adverse effects of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics in bumblebees
Researchers exposed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics singly and in combination to assess sublethal effects on survival, feeding behavior, and memory. Single-type exposures reduced survival in a concentration-dependent manner but combined exposure showed antagonistic (no significant) survival effects; PMMA impaired memory while the mixture enhanced sucrose responsiveness, revealing complex interaction effects.
Negative effects of increased ozone concentrations and heat stress on bumblebees are exacerbated by microplastics
This study found that microplastic exposure worsened the negative effects of heat stress and increased ozone levels on bumblebees. When bees were exposed to multiple stressors at once, including microplastics, the combined harm was greater than any single stressor alone. This matters because bees pollinate many of the crops humans eat, and their decline could affect food security.
Single and Synergistic Effects of Microplastics and Difenoconazole on Oxidative Stress, Transcriptome, and Microbiome Traits in Honey Bees
Researchers exposed honey bees to microplastics and the fungicide difenoconazole, both alone and together, and found that the combination caused worse oxidative stress and gut microbiome disruption than either pollutant alone. This is concerning because bees encounter both pollutants in agricultural environments, and the combined exposure may weaken their health more than expected.
Unravelling the microplastic menace: Different polymers additively increase bee vulnerability
Researchers exposed bees to two common types of microplastics, both individually and combined, and found that the mixture caused additive harmful effects on survival and behavior. The microplastics impaired the bees' ability to learn and remember, which is critical for finding food and navigating. Since bees are essential pollinators for food crops, microplastic pollution threatening bee health could have indirect consequences for human food production.
Combined effects of microplastics and flupyradifurone on gut microbiota and oxidative status of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.)
Researchers found that honeybees exposed to both polystyrene microplastics and the pesticide flupyradifurone suffered significantly worse health outcomes than when exposed to either substance alone, including reduced survival and disrupted gut bacteria. The combination depleted beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria in the bees' guts, and supplementing with these bacteria improved survival. While focused on bees, this study demonstrates how microplastics can amplify the toxicity of other environmental chemicals, a principle that likely applies across species.
Binary combined toxicity of neonicotinoids and co-existing pollutants to non-target invertebrates: A meta-analysis
This global meta-analysis of 47 studies synthesized data on how co-exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides with other pollutants — including microplastics, heavy metals, and fungicides — affects non-target invertebrates, finding that co-contaminants generally amplify neonicotinoid toxicity especially for bees and aquatic invertebrates. The results highlight that real-world mixture exposures pose greater risks to invertebrate health than single-chemical laboratory studies suggest.
Negative effects of increased ozone concentrations and heat stress on bumblebees are exacerbated by microplastics
This experimental study found that microplastic exposure worsened the harmful effects of ozone pollution and heat stress on bumblebees. When combined, these stressors caused greater health damage than any single one alone, suggesting that microplastic pollution may amplify the impacts of climate change on important pollinators.
Unravelling the microplastic menace: different polymers work in synergy to increase bee vulnerability
Researchers studied the effects of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) microplastics, both individually and combined, on honeybees. They found that the mixture of different microplastic polymers produced synergistic harmful effects that were worse than either polymer alone, including increased mortality and disrupted gut microbiota. The study highlights that real-world microplastic exposure, which typically involves mixtures of polymers, may pose greater risks to pollinators than single-polymer laboratory studies suggest.
Long-term exposure to microplastics and heat affects bumblebee behavior patterns, colony development and social networks
Bumblebee colonies were exposed to microplastics and/or elevated temperature (simulating climate warming) for one generation and monitored for individual behavior, colony development, and social network structure. Microplastic exposure combined with heat stress reduced colony size and altered foraging behavior and social network metrics, suggesting compounding effects on pollinator health.
Synergistic effects between microplastics and glyphosate on honey bee larvae
This study found that honey bee larvae exposed to microplastics combined with the herbicide glyphosate experienced worse developmental problems, higher oxidative stress, and stronger immune responses than those exposed to either pollutant alone. The combined exposure disrupted key detoxification and antioxidant genes in the developing bees. While focused on bees, this research highlights how microplastics can amplify the harm from other environmental chemicals, a pattern that likely applies to other organisms including humans.
How Environmental and Ecological Stressors Reprogram Honey Bee Chemistry Through the Microbiome–Metabolome Axis
Researchers reviewed how major environmental stressors — including pesticides, pathogens, nutritional imbalance, and contaminants — disrupt the honey bee gut microbiome-metabolome axis, finding recurring patterns of functional dysbiosis such as impaired energy metabolism and weakened immune regulation that can scale up to threaten colony resilience.
Individual vs. Combined Short-Term Effects of Soil Pollutants on Colony Founding in a Common Ant Species
Individual and combined exposure of ant colonies to soil pollutants -- including microplastics -- during colony founding phase showed that combined exposures had non-additive effects on colony establishment success, with implications for understanding how pollutant mixtures contribute to insect decline.
Effects of different microplastic types and co-exposure on the survival of Apis mellifera ligustica (Spinola, 1806) and its associated microbial communities
Researchers fed honey bees three types of microplastics (polystyrene, polyethylene, and polymethyl methacrylate) individually and in combination, and found that all treatments significantly reduced bee survival compared to controls. The combination of all three microplastic types had the strongest negative effect, and the gut microbial community showed time- and treatment-specific shifts that may represent an initial compensatory response to maintain functional stability.
Comparison of fitness effects in the earthworm Eisenia fetida after exposure to single or multiple anthropogenic pollutants
Researchers exposed earthworms (Eisenia fetida) to single and combined anthropogenic pollutants including pesticides, heavy metals, and microplastics in a factorial design, finding that exposure to multiple pollutants simultaneously produced synergistic negative effects on earthworm fitness beyond what individual pollutant exposures predicted.
Single and combined effects of microplastics, pyrethroid and food resources on the life-history traits and microbiome of Chironomus riparius
Researchers exposed Chironomus riparius larvae to microplastics alone and combined with a pyrethroid pesticide under varying food conditions, finding that combined stress altered life-history traits and shifted the gut microbiome composition, with food availability modulating the severity of effects.
Combined transcriptome and metabolite profiling analyses provide insights into the chronic toxicity of carbaryl and acetamiprid to Apis mellifera larvae
Researchers exposed honeybee larvae in vitro to no-observed-adverse-effect concentrations of the insecticides carbaryl and acetamiprid and used combined transcriptome and metabolite profiling to reveal that carbaryl disrupted oxidative stress responses and amino acid metabolism, while acetamiprid altered different metabolic pathways.
Developing Strategies to Help Bee Colony Resilience in Changing Environments
This review identified strategies for improving bee colony resilience under multiple stressors including climate change, pathogen pressure, and pesticide exposure, with a focus on the links between nutrition, gut microbiota, and immune and stress response systems. The authors highlight dietary diversity and microbiome support as practical levers for maintaining colony health.
Diversification mitigates pesticide but not microplastic effects on bees without compromising rapeseed yield in China
Researchers conducted a large-scale mesocosm study to test whether agricultural diversification could mitigate the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides and microplastics on solitary bees over multiple generations. They found that diversified floral resources successfully offset negative effects of neonicotinoids on bee reproduction, but microplastics showed no significant individual or synergistic toxicity at realistic environmental levels. The results support agricultural diversification as a practical strategy for protecting pollinators from pesticide pollution without compromising crop yields.
Combined effects of polyethylene microplastics and natural stressors on Chironomus riparius life-history traits
Researchers examined combined effects of polyethylene microplastics with temperature, salinity, and food stress on the midge Chironomus riparius, finding that microplastic effects on life-history traits were modulated by these natural stressors in ways not predicted by simple additive models.
Effect of combined salt and microplastic stress on the microbiota structure of the rice–oriental armyworm system
Researchers studied how salt stress and polyethylene microplastic contamination together affect rice plants and the insects that feed on them. They found that while individual stressors reduced insect weight, the combined stress surprisingly allowed partial recovery, suggesting complex interactions between the two environmental factors. The study reveals that co-occurring stresses from salt and microplastics reshape microbial communities in both plants and insects in unexpected ways.
Chemical Mixtures and Multiple Stressors: Same but Different?
This review highlights the parallels between chemical mixture research and multiple stressor ecology, arguing that both fields face similar challenges in predicting joint effects and would benefit from integrated frameworks combining chemical and non-chemical stressor assessments.