Research & reports

Subin Babu Neupane, Pedro F S Toledo, Katerina Velasco-Graham, Felipe N. Soto‐Adames, Arash Kheirodin · Journal of Integrated Pest Management · United States

This is the first report documenting the invasive thrips species Thrips parvispinus, native to Southeast Asia, in Texas, USA. Samples collected from 12 locations across Texas -- including greenhouse facilities, large retail outlets and community gardens -- from plants showing foliage injury confirmed the species' presence in November 2025, and detections across multiple counties suggest it has been introduced to multiple locations and may be widely distributed in the state.

Kyla D. Schulte, Caleb J. Wilson, Anna Tawril, Mary A. Jamieson · Ecosphere · United States (Michigan)

A three-year study across 10 strawberry farms along a rural-urban gradient in Michigan, USA, characterized bee abundance, diversity, and community composition. The study found that urbanization, measured as impervious surface cover, had no consistent effect on overall bee abundance and diversity. While urbanization differentially influenced specific taxa (Halictini positively in year one, Ceratinini negatively in year three), the overall impact was limited, with wild bees, especially native species, being important pollinators in urban agriculture.

Emilie E. Ellis, S. Campbell, Jill L. Edmondson · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · Global

A large-scale assessment across three cities found up to a 43% reduction in species richness of bees, hoverflies, and nocturnal moths in urban horticultural sites along urbanization gradients. These declines are driven by taxon-specific landscape changes like reduced tree canopy and semi-natural habitat. Moths and hoverflies were particularly sensitive to urbanization compared to bees, indicating a wide range of pollinators are under threat in urban landscapes.

Johanna Bock, Márcio Zamboni Neske, Martin Krauß, Andrea Dombrowski, Jörg Oehlmann · Environmental Sciences Europe · Europe

Focusing on small water bodies in private urban gardens, this study examined whether chemical pollution limits insect diversity, given that gardens make up a significant share of urban green area and can serve as important habitats and stepping stones for insects, while pesticides, fertilizers and chemical run-off from building materials can strongly affect habitat quality and insect biodiversity. Garden pond toxicity was assessed using in vitro and in vivo methods and chemical screening. Of 17 ponds examined, only one water sample and one sediment sample were found non-toxic in a bioluminescence assay with Aliivibrio fischeri. Enhanced dioxin-like activity was measured in seven water and ten sediment samples using a reporter gene assay with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and most water extracts showed mutagenic potential in the Ames fluctuation assay (Salmonella typhimurium strains YG1041 and YG1042), while most sediment extracts were not mutagenic. Increased larval mortality of Chironomus riparius occurred in five water-sediment systems built from pond samples, correlating positively with in vitro water toxicity and with concentrations of benzothiazole derivatives measured by LC-HRMS, likely originating from EPDM rubber pond liners. Substance composition differed significantly between house and allotment gardens, with higher concentrations measured in allotment ponds. The study concludes that chemical pollution in private urban gardens may have been underestimated to date, and that pond toxicity can severely affect insect populations, warranting further study.

Pierric Calenge, Maie Gérardot · Métropolitiques · United States (Cleveland)

The work by Max Rousseau and Vincent Béal illuminates the ambiguities of a policy that organizes urban decline and racial segregation in Cleveland. This policy promotes urban degrowth and racial segregation, balancing algorithmic management and urban greening. The study focuses on the Rust Belt region, which experiences de-urbanization marked by the subprime crisis, racism, and segregation.

Alexandra Zink, Paul J. CaraDonna, Kelly Larsen, Amy M. Iler · Ecosphere · United States (Chicago)

This study investigated how urbanization relates to pollination by growing 240 plants (squash and tomato) across six sites with varying urbanization levels in Chicago, Illinois. For tomatoes, the magnitude of pollen limitation increased with greater impervious surface, indicating more pronounced pollination deficits at highly urbanized sites. For squash, evidence of pollen limitation was found only at the most urban site, with a weak trend of pollen limitation of fruit set (but not seed set) increasing with impervious surface.

Joan Casanelles‐Abella, Simone Fontana, Bertrand Fournier, David Frey, Marco Moretti · Ecological Applications · Switzerland (Zurich)

This study in 23 urban gardens in Zurich, Switzerland, examined feeding niche partitioning between wild bees and honeybees. Researchers found that feeding niche partitioning increased with wild bee species richness and in sites with lower landscape-scale resource availability, which also had lower honeybee abundances. However, beekeeping intensity at local and landscape scales did not directly influence community feeding niche partitioning or wild bee species richness, suggesting direct competition for resources was not a main driver for the wild bee community.

Mohd Zulkifli Muhammad, Mohd Zulkifli Muhammad, Reza Putra, Abdul Rahman, Ridho Hafis, Faizar Rianda · JURNAL HURRIAH Jurnal Evaluasi Pendidikan dan Penelitian · Indonesia

The A Bee Honey group in Gampong Alue Awe, Muara Dua subdistrict, implemented a pilot program for Trigona honey bee cultivation from August to November 2022. Despite its potential as an income source, honey supply does not consistently meet demand, and a lack of understanding regarding cultivation and economics reduces consumer interest. The community also does not fully comprehend the advantages and potential of trigona bee cultivation. Training was provided to educate the community on its potential as an alternative income source, resulting in five family heads joining the program.

Kit Prendergast, Amelie M. Vanderstock, Heather Neilly, Catherine E. Ross, Vanessa Pirotta, Patrick Tegart · Austral Ecology · Australia

A reflection on a citizen science project in which five early-career and PhD female researchers guided school-age children across five schools to build artificial flowers, install them on school ovals, and record over repeated 10-minute observations how flower colour (yellow vs. blue) and configuration (isolated, clumped adjacent, clumped mixed-colour, clumped single-colour) affected the number and taxa of visiting insects. The project achieved a low-cost, engaging format and exposure to female STEM role models, but the authors report constraints including having to run it in a season made suboptimal by fixed school curricula, confounding of results caused by the children's own observations, and an inability to verify the collected data.

Kit Prendergast · Pacific Conservation Biology · Australia

The African carder bee, Pseudoanthidium (Immanthidium) repetitum, first recorded in Queensland in 2000, has now been found in Western Australia, marking a significant distribution expansion. Three confirmed and one unconfirmed localities were identified in the Mandurah region, with abundant female specimens observed in one garden. The presence of this introduced species necessitates vigilance due to known negative impacts on native fauna and flora.

Sofia Biffi, Cleandho Marcos de Souza, L. G. Firbank · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · United Kingdom

Seventeen urban food production sites of varying sizes in and around Leeds, UK, selected from an open-source database, were surveyed using pitfall traps to assess the abundance and diversity of epigeal invertebrates (beetles, springtails, and spiders) in relation to soil characteristics (organic carbon, moisture content, pH) and site area; soil productivity was assessed by growing radish (Raphanus sativus) under uniform conditions. The study found no correlation between epigeal invertebrate abundance or diversity and either site area or soil characteristics. The authors state this indicates there is, as yet, no evidence that urban food production sites are too small to draw on ecosystem services delivered by epigeal invertebrates.

박진 · 한국양봉학회 학술대회 자료집 · Global

This report examines the global rise of urban beekeeping, noting its diverse approaches across countries like the UK, Japan, and Denmark. While South Korea has seen an increase in urban beekeeping since 2012, with government support initiated in 2016, the sector faces significant challenges. Urban beekeeping is still largely viewed as a derivative of conventional beekeeping, and a lack of ordinances or legal frameworks hinders its widespread adoption and recognition of its environmental, social, and economic value.

J. Scott MacIvor, Laurence Packer · PLoS ONE · Global

This study modeled the occupancy probability of six solitary bee species using nest boxes set along an urbanization gradient over three consecutive years. Native M. pugnata showed decreased occupancy with increasing building footprint, and a similar but not significant pattern was found for native O. pumila. Conversely, introduced M. rotundata and M. centuncularis, along with native M. campanulae, exhibited increased occupancy with rising urbanization.

Amanda E. Nelson, Andrew A. Forbes · PLoS ONE · Global

This study sampled two plant-herbivore-parasitoid systems across 250 sites in a 360 km2 urban/agricultural landscape to investigate the impact of human development on trophic interactions. It found that herbivorous insect densities were decoupled from host tree densities in urban landcover types at several spatial scales. Furthermore, a parasitoid species was absent from all urban/suburban landcover in one system, even where its herbivore host was common, indicating that human land use patterns limit specialist insect distributions due to dispersal constraints.

Kevin C. Matteson, Gail Langellotto · Insect Conservation and Diversity · United States (New York City)

The ability of adding 70 plants of seven native wildflower species over two years to augment beneficial insect richness, including bees, butterflies, and predatory wasps, was assessed in New York City community gardens. Bayesian analyses failed to find a strong influence of the native plant additions on beneficial insect richness, even after correcting for prior floral abundance. Butterflies and megachilid bees were found to heavily utilize introduced ornamental and crop flowers in these gardens, even when native flowers were present.

Karin Ahrné, Jan Bengtsson, Thomas Elmqvist · PLoS ONE · Sweden (Stockholm)

This study investigated bumble bees in allotment gardens along an urbanization gradient from inner Stockholm to rural areas. Findings showed that bumble bee diversity decreased with increasing urbanization, from approximately eight species in rural areas to five to six species in urban allotment gardens. Higher variability in the abundance of certain species in the most urban areas suggested a potentially weaker reliability of the pollination ecosystem service in areas strongly influenced by human activity.

Lee M · PubMed · Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, urban agriculture faces significant challenges due to government disapproval of public land use for farming and difficulty in obtaining credit. A 1983 survey in Addis Ababa found that 17% of 1352 households produced their own food on less than 25 sq. meters, with 90% of non-farmers citing lack of land. Despite urban agricultural cooperatives demonstrating 70% higher member income, their lack of government legalization prevents access to loans for productivity improvement.