Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026

Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health
Published on: October 9, 2017
CLIMATE CHANGE. Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents
Jeremy T Kerr1, Alana Pindar2, Paul Galpern3
1Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N6N5. jkerr@uottawa.ca.
Abstract:
For many species, geographical ranges are expanding toward the poles in response to climate change, while remaining stable along range edges nearest the equator. Using long-term observations across Europe and North America over 110 years, we tested for climate change-related range shifts in bumblebee species across the full extents of their latitudinal and thermal limits and movements along elevation gradients. We found cross-continentally consistent trends in failures to track warming through time at species' northern range limits, range losses from southern range limits, and shifts to higher elevations among southern species. These effects are independent of changing land uses or pesticide applications and underscore the need to test for climate impacts at both leading and trailing latitudinal and thermal limits for species.
Related Concept Videos
Global Climate Change
Migration
Threats to Biodiversity
What is Climate?
Pollination and Flower Structure
Microbes and Climate Change

