Climate change has a negative impact on the survival of bumblebees, a new study published in the journal Science revealed.

The altering weather patterns is believed to have caused the insects' alarming decrease in population over time.

Bumblebees do not like to stay in the warmest regions. And unlike other animals and insects that adapt to climate shift by simply heading North, bumblebees prefer to stay in the South where they die off.

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According to research leader and biologist with the University of Ottawa in Canada Jeremy Kerr, bumblebees may not have the resistance to endure the extreme heat brought about by climate change.

"The only explanation we've got is that it's too hot for them," Kerr said, as per Pioneer News.

Even though bumblebees do not have direct purpose to humans, the insects are considered important in the ecosystem since they serve as pollinators of crops across Europe and North America. Without bumblebees, the said plants and agriculture giants would suffer a great deal.

Preliminary data revealed that bumblebees, due to their pollinating, are worth $3 billion a year of crops. But due to the rising global temperatures, the bees leave their hottest habitats and eventually die off when they could no longer stand the heat, Science Reorder reported.

Furthermore, honeybees, which are also considered pollinators, suffer a great decline in population through the process called colony collapse disorder. The process is said to have been brought about by the excessive use of pesticide for crop maintenance.

But between honeybees and bumblebees, the latter do more work than the former since bumblebees spend most of their lifetime in the field pollinating crops and plants from spring to fall. And unlike most species, the bumblebees are not selective of the crop they pollinate and are even capable of "buzz pollinating" flowers such as tomatoes.

"Pollinators are vital for food security and our economy, and widespread losses of pollinators due to climate change will diminish both. We need to figure out how we can improve the outlook for pollinators at continental scales, but the most important thing we can do is begin to take serious action to reduce the rate of climate change," Kerr said.

The research compared the habitat ranges for 67 bumblebee populations in North America and Europe from 1901 to 1974 (before the onset of climate change) and the data from 1974 to 2010 where climate change has been greatly felt.

The results showed that bumblebee population has indeed decreased by 186 miles in the southern area, which is an estimated 5.6 miles per year, Daily Times Gazette has learned.

"We need new strategies to help these species cope with the effects of human-caused climate change, perhaps assisting them to shift into northern areas," Kerr suggested.

TagsBumblebee, Honeybee, crops, Science