Bees in Space

Pollination: a brief overview

No other group of insects are of more benefit to humans than bees. One-third of the world’s crops demand pollination to set seeds and fruits, and most meat and dairy industries rely on bees for pollination of clover and lucerne. Crops relying on bee pollination include apple, citrus, tomato, peach, melons, strawberry, apricots, cherry, mango, grapes, olives, carrot, potato, onion, pumpkin, beans, cucumbers, sunflower, various nuts, a range of herbs, cotton, alfalfa and lavender. The annual value of this service is estimated at US $112 billion worldwide.

Much of the world’s agricultural pollination is done by European Honeybees. However, their numbers worldwide have declined due to increasing problems with pests and disease, particularly in North and Central America and Europe (about 10% decline between 1992 and 2002). This decline is expected to continue for at least the next few years. The risk of relying on a single pollinator is becoming clear, and global organisations are recognising the need for a diversity of pollinators, particularly native species. Many of these species need to be managed if they are to fulfill their potential as pollinators of agricultural and horticultural crops, but management is unlikely until more is known about their taxonomy, ecology and biology.

Perhaps belatedly, efforts are underway to redress this problem. The International Convention on Biological Biodiversity specifically cites pollination as a key ecosystem function that is threatened globally. Its aims are to address the lack of taxonomic information on pollinators, and promote the conservation and the restoration and sustainable use of pollinator diversity in agricultural and related ecosystems

The São Paulo Declaration on Pollinators (1999), based on the available global evidence at the time, reported that ‘the numbers of native bees are dwindling, some species seriously so’. In 2000, at the VIII International Pollination Symposium in Hungary, a group of pollination researchers came together to form the European Pollination Initiative. In addition to pollination in agricultural systems, this and other groups are attempting to identify and deal with the many examples of native ecosystems that are suffering, and entire plant populations that are failing to set seed, due to the local extinction of native bee pollinators.

“Bees in Space” highlights the importance of pollination in a sustainable ecosystem and the application of this knowledge in a space context makes it engaging to students. Researchers from a variety of fields will collaborate to expand our understanding of how the varying elements are integrated. Students participating in the program will gain an appreciation for the importance of bio-diversity and balance in agricultural industries and to find a suitable pollinator for crops grown in space and on Mars.

Many and varied areas of research have been identified, these include:

·         Pollinator selection

·         Supplemental artificial feeding system

·         Impact of environment on pollinator flight

·         Impact of environment on pollination efficiency

·         Impact of environments on biology and behaviour of pollinator

·         Hibernation management of pollinator

·         Plant selection

·         Pest and disease control

·         Biodiversity

·         Nutrition and plant yield

·         Sustainability

The objective is to develop a sustainable, autonomous ecosystem that exploits the mutuality of natural pollinator and plant in a microgravity environment.

For more details contact

Patrick Honan                                 patrick@beesinspace.org  

Assoc Prof Lachlan Thompson     lachlan@beesinspace.org