Sarah Walkington

Dr. Sarah Walkington

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Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

12Years (2015-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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18 March 2020 in Insects
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AGArran Greenop
Arran Greenop
NMNevine Mica-Hawkyard
Nevine Mica-Hawkyard
SWSarah Walkington
Sarah Walkington
AWAndrew Wilby
Andrew Wilby
SCSam Cook
Sam Cook
BWBen A Woodcock
Ben A Woodcock
Climate change poses a threat to global food security with extreme heat events causing drought and direct damage to crop plants. However, by altering behavioural or physiological responses of insects, extreme heat events may also affect pollination services on which many crops are dependent. Such effects may potentially be exacerbated by other environmental stresses, such as exposure to widely used agro-chemicals. To determine whether environmental stressors interact to affect pollination services, we carried out field cage experiments on the buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris). Using a Bayesian approach, we assessed whether heat stress (colonies maintained at an ambient temperature of 25 °C or 31 °C) and insecticide exposure (5 ng g-1 of the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin) could induce behavioural changes that affected pollination of faba bean (Vicia faba). Only the bumble bee colonies and not the plants were exposed to the environmental stress treatments. Bean plants exposed to heat-stressed bumble bee colonies (31 °C) had a lower proportional pod set compared to colonies maintained at 25 °C. There was also weak evidence that heat stressed colonies caused lower total bean weight. Bee exposure to clothianidin was found to have no clear effect on plant yields, either individually or as part of an interaction. We identified no effect of either colony stressor on bumble bee foraging behaviours. Our results suggest that extreme heat stress at the colony level may impact on pollination services. However, as the effect for other key yield parameters was weaker (e.g. bean yields), our results are not conclusive. Overall, our study highlights the need for further research on how environmental stress affects behavioural interactions in plant-pollinator systems that could impact on crop yields.

10 June 2015 in Environmental Microbiology Reports
Verified
Journal Article
Closed access
PDF file
LNLindsay K. Newbold
Lindsay K. Newbold
AOAnna E. Oliver
Anna E. Oliver
LCLeah Cuthbertson
Leah Cuthbertson
SWSarah Walkington
Sarah Walkington
HGHyun Soon Gweon
Hyun Soon Gweon
CGChristopher J. van der Gast
Christopher J. van der Gast