The impact of climate change on bumblebee behaviour and physiology

Bumblebees are important pollinators, but many species are undergoing dramatic range declines. While the drivers of these declines are multifaceted, climate change is a major contributing factor1. Most bumblebee species are adapted to cooler climate conditions. For example, they have long hairs that keep them insulated, and typically forage when temperatures are lower.

Consequently, as global temperatures increase, bumblebees may be vulnerable to hotter temperatures and potentially shift their range and behaviour.

However, long-term data from Europe and North America, indicate that the population distributions of most bumblebee species are not moving north in response to climate change, while their southern limits are retracting. Consequently, bumblebees will have to adapt to higher temperatures and extreme weather events.

Understanding, the behavioural, and physiological response of bumblebees to these temperatures is therefore of paramount importance for predicting the true impact of climate change on bumblebee populations.