Monitoring the Anthropogenic Toxicity of Spontaneous Flora in Neamt County through Studies of the Honey Bee Chemical Characteristics

The products of honey bees can be used as indicators and monitors of a variety of environmental pollutants because of the bees� ability to collect materials that reflect their immediate environmental conditions. Human activities produce more waste and administrate the pesticides, the amounts and toxicity of which often exceed the environment�s homeostatic capacity to cleanse itself, and this is constantly transforming due to intensive agricultural practices necessary to increase food production as human population grows. The main sources for contamination of honey with heavy metals are represented by placing hives near urban areas with heavy car traffic, or industrialized areas and the use on the entire circuit of production, objects or containers made of materials unsuitable (unacceptable). For that reason regular monitoring of the environment is so important. Honey bees, thanks to their morphological features, and also bee products are regarded as good indicators of environmental pollution by toxic substances, be these heavy metals, radioactive elements or persistent organic pollutants such as pesticides. Consequently, it is important to estimate the environmental fate and Eco toxicological effects of these different xenobiotic. Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) have been used as biological indicators of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) in two intensely cultivated in areas of Neamt County, Romania. This area is representative for the pre-mountain and mountain zone of Romania. The stratified sample has been face-to-face interviewed in 2016 regarding the data from the year 2015. The total consumption specific for the honey production was about 628 MJ hive-1, and the energy output reached 235 MJ hive-1, determining an energy productivity of 0.030 kg MJ-1 and an energy use efficiency of 0.37. Specific energy amounted 33.3MJ kg-1 due to the inefficiency of traveling during the apiaries movements and the inappropriate correlation between the apiaries size and the zonal melliferous potential. In this paper available literature data and information on the morphological features of the honey bee, the utilization of the honey bee and its products as indicators of environmental pollution, and a historical outline of some of the legislation relating to beekeeping have been critically compared and discussed.

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Assessment of Long-Lived Radionuclides (3H, 14C) and Heavy Metals in Snow Cover of Urban Areas as Indicators of Environmental Pollution (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Lecture Notes in Earth System Sciences - Processes and Phenomena on the Boundary Between Biogenic and Abiogenic Nature ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-21614-6_17 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 297-313

Author(s):

Sergey V. Lebedev ◽

Marianna A. Kulkova ◽

Larisa M. Zarina ◽

Evgeny M. Nesterov

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Snow Cover ◽

Urban Areas

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Index of Atmospheric Purity reflects the ecological conditions better than the environmental pollution in the Carpathian forests

Journal of Mountain Science ◽

10.1007/s11629-020-6266-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (11) ◽

pp. 2691-2706

Author(s):

Magdalena Tanona ◽

Paweł Czarnota

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Ecological Indicator ◽

Epiphytic Lichen ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Ecological Conditions ◽

Lichen Biota ◽

High Degree

Abstract The Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) is a popular tool used for the assessment of air quality in polluted urban areas, on the basis of phytosociological data of epiphytic lichen communities. We hypothesized that this indicator could also be used in less polluted forest areas to determine the quality of ecological conditions for lichens. The aim of the present study was to verify the use of IAP method in the assessment of environmental pollution, and alternatively for the assessment of general ecological conditions in protected mountain forests of Gorce National Park (Polish Western Carpathians) based on the epiphytic lichen biota associated with Picea abies. The spatial distribution of IAP values on monitored sites in GNP was compared with: 1) spatial distribution of accumulated sulfur, nitrogen, selected heavy metals, and total heavy metals in Hypogymnia physodes thalli in 1993 and 2018 (30 sites), 2) mean ecological indicator values characterizing species requirements for light (L), substrate reaction (R) and nutrients (N), in 1993, 2013 and 2018 (33 sites). Generalized linear model and redundancy analysis were performed for disclosing most influencing factors affecting lichen communities. The study revealed a few negligible relationships between IAP values and accumulation of such elements as Ni, Mn, Cd, and Cr in both monitoring periods. Simultaneously, IAP can be useful for the identification of forest areas with a high degree of naturalness.

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Honey Bee tissues as a biomarker for Environmental pollution with heavy metals.

Delta Journal of Science ◽

10.21608/djs.2013.139633 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 38-41

Author(s):

Yahya Al-Naggar ◽

Mohamed H Mona ◽

El-Saied Naiem ◽

Amal I Seif

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Honey Bee

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Wild pollinator activities negatively related to honey bee colony densities in urban context

10.1101/667725 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Lise Ropars ◽

Isabelle Dajoz ◽

Colin Fontaine ◽

Audrey Muratet ◽

Benoît Geslin

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Pesticide Exposure ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Strong Increase ◽

Pollinator Visitation ◽

Pollinator Decline ◽

Bee Colony ◽

Honey Bee Colony

AbstractAs pollinator decline is increasingly reported in natural and agricultural environments, cities are perceived as shelters for pollinators because of low pesticide exposure and high floral diversity throughout the year. This has led to the development of environmental policies supporting pollinators in urban areas. However, policies are often restricted to the promotion of honey bee colony installations, which resulted in a strong increase in apiary numbers in cities. Recently, competition for floral resources between wild pollinators and honey bees has been highlighted in semi-natural contexts, but whether urban beekeeping could impact wild pollinators remains unknown. Here, we show that in the city of Paris (France), wild pollinator visitation rates is negatively correlated to honey bee colony densities present in the surrounding (500m – slope = −0.614; p = 0.001 – and 1000m – slope = −0.489; p = 0.005). More particularly, large solitary bees and beetles were significantly affected at 500m (respectively slope = −0.425, p = 0.007 and slope = - 0.671, p = 0.002) and bumblebees were significantly affected at 1000m (slope = - 0.451, p = 0.012). Further, lower interaction evenness in plant-pollinator networks was observed with honey bee colony densities within 1000 meter buffers (slope = −0.487, p = 0.008). Finally, honey bees tended to focus their foraging activity on managed rather than spontaneous plant species (student t-test, p = 0.001) whereas wild pollinators equally visited managed and spontaneous species. We advocate responsible practices mitigating the introduction of high density of hives in urban environments. Future studies are needed to deepen our knowledge about the potential negative interactions between wild and domesticated pollinators.

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High royal jelly production does not impact the gut microbiome of honey bees

Animal Microbiome ◽

10.1186/s42523-021-00124-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Megan E. Damico ◽

Olav Rueppell ◽

Zack Shaffer ◽

Bin Han ◽

Kasie Raymann

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Gut Microbiome ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Royal Jelly ◽

Gene Profiling ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Pollination Services ◽

Bacterial Composition ◽

Neurological Differences

Abstract Background Honey bees are not only essential for pollination services, but are also economically important as a source of hive products (e.g., honey, royal jelly, pollen, wax, and propolis) that are used as foods, cosmetics, and alternative medicines. Royal jelly is a popular honey bee product with multiple potential medicinal properties. To boost royal jelly production, a long-term genetic selection program of Italian honey bees (ITBs) in China has been performed, resulting in honey bee stocks (here referred to as RJBs) that produce an order of magnitude more royal jelly than ITBs. Although multiple studies have investigated the molecular basis of increased royal jelly yields, one factor that has not been considered is the role of honey bee-associated gut microbes. Results Based on the behavioral, morphological, physiological, and neurological differences between RJBs and ITBs, we predicted that the gut microbiome composition of RJBs bees would differ from ITBs. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the bacterial composition of RJB and ITB workers from an urban location and RJBs from a rural location in China. Based on 16S rRNA gene profiling, we did not find any evidence that RJBs possess a unique bacterial gut community when compared to ITBs. However, we observed differences between honey bees from the urban versus rural sites. Conclusions Our results suggest that the environmental factors rather than stock differences are more important in shaping the bacterial composition in honey bee guts. Further studies are needed to investigate if the observed differences in relative abundance of taxa between the urban and rural bees correspond to distinct functional capabilities that impact honey bee health. Because the lifestyle, diet, and other environmental variables are different in rural and urban areas, controlled studies are needed to determine which of these factors are responsible for the observed differences in gut bacterial composition between urban and rural honeybees.

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Investigation of the use of honey bees and honey bee products to assess heavy metals contamination

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/bf00399566 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

L. Leita ◽

G. Muhlbachova ◽

S. Cesco ◽

R. Barbattini ◽

C. Mondini

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Heavy Metals Contamination

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A Numerical Study of the Concentration of Some Heavy Metals in Tasmanian Oysters

Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada ◽

10.1139/f74-138 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 31 (7) ◽

pp. 1165-1171 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

D. A. Ratkowsky ◽

S. J. Thrower ◽

I. J. Eustace ◽

June Olley

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Numerical Study ◽

Close Association ◽

Principal Coordinate Analysis ◽

Numerical Classification ◽

Urbanized Areas

Inferential techniques of numerical classification and principal coordinate analysis have been used to interpret data obtained on the Zn, Cd, and Cu concentration of 48 samples of oysters, comprising 473 individuals, grown at a variety of places around the Tasmanian coastline. A close association was obtained between proximity to heavily urbanized areas and concentration of metals found, oysters growing nearest urban areas having the highest concentrations of one or more of the metals. It appears that areas for commercial oyster growing should be sought in regions far from centers of urbanization and industrialization. Examination of samples of native oysters could be useful in providing an index or measure of environmental pollution.

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Ecological and hygienic assessment of environment in the town with glass packaging production

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201913501044 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 135 ◽

pp. 01044

Author(s):

Anton Martsev ◽

Oleg Selivanov

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Environmental Pollution ◽

Glass Production ◽

Pollution Source ◽

Toxic Substances ◽

Study Objective ◽

Industrial Enterprises ◽

Sanitary Condition ◽

Vladimir Region

The population of the industrialized centers is constantly affected by the complex of technogenic factors of environmental pollution. The leading technogenic factor is known to impact negatively the population health is air pollution. Technogenic air pollution in cities is caused by the emissions of contaminants both as a result of motor transportation and industrial enterprises. This impact is one of the main reasons for the public health deterioration. Glass production is among such sources. Air pollution with toxic substances causes soil pollution, which ecological and sanitary condition can serve as a marker of environmental pollution rate. The study objective was the ecological and hygienic environment assessment of the Gorokhovets town in the Vladimir region, where modern glass empties production is functioning. Statistics of the regional official services in Gorokhovets district of the Vladimir region, as well as data from our own research have been applied for the research. Heavy metals in soil have been detected by x-ray fluorescence method applying spectrometer “Spectroscan MAX-G”. Anions content in soils was determined using water extracts from soil samples by capillary electrophoresis applying device “Kapel-104”. Results. The statistics published by the official regional state services on the gross amount of air pollutants emissions have been analyzed. Data on the heavy metals (HM) and anions content in various parts of Gorokhovets have been obtained. Conclusion. The ecologic-hygienic assessment of environment allowed to reveal that vehicles make the largest contribution to the air pollution in Gorohovets area in recent years. The main stationary air pollution source n is the glass works “Rusdzham” as first of all nitrogen oxides are its by-products.

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