The Impact of Diseases Transmission in Pollinators Decline

Ongoing global biodiversity loss is a growing concern for our society. This involves also the pollinators community which ensures insect-pollinated plant reproduction in our natural environment and provides a great ecosystem service to mankind, particularly for food safety and human welfare. The aim of this study is two-fold: i) to produce a comprehensive update of the decline of pollinators at global scale and ii) to focus especially on the issue of pollinators disease transmission. In this research we argue that the cause of insect-pollinator decline is multi-factorial, including anthropogenic pressures such as land-use change (habitats loss, agricultural intensification…), climate change, pesticides and the spread of alien species and diseases. It also appears that the high prevalence of a broad range of insects and commercial use of pollinators are key drivers of pathogens transmission (virus, parasites …). However, the dynamics of pathogens transmission is still poorly known and, in turn, more scientific research must be performed to have a better insight of this issue. Finally, pollinators decline results from synergetic actions among these stress generators at different spatio-temporal levels emphasized by the globalization of commercial exchanges.