Bee-ing Resilient in Changing Climate: Safeguarding Pollinators and Crop Yields

The project focuses on the critical issue of declining bee populations, which threatens global food security. Bees are key pollinators, but their ability to find food sources is compromised by air pollution, climate change, and other environmental stressors. These factors can disrupt the chemical signals that plants emit to attract pollinators. The aim of the project is to investigate how different types of pollution affect these chemical signals and subsequently the ability of bees to find and pollinate plants. For the research, we will use a unique combination of spectroscopic methods, enabling trace gas detection, and physical modeling using an environmental aerodynamic tunnel, which allows for the simulation of semi-real conditions for different types of terrain. The results of this research will be used to design strategies for bee conservation and to ensure the long-term sustainability of agriculture. The research will be conducted in cooperation with Working Group 4 (WG) of the COST Action BeSafeBeeHoney.