Interspecific Host Variation and Biotic Interactions Drive Pathogen Community Assembly in Chinese Bumblebees

Abstract

Bumblebees have been considered one of the most important pollinators on the planet. However, recent reports of bumblebee decline have raised concern about a significant threat to ecosystem stability. Infectious diseases caused by multiple pathogen infections have been increasingly recognized as an important mechanism behind this decline worldwide. Understanding the determining factors that influence the assembly and composition of pathogen communities among bumblebees can provide important implications for predicting infectious disease dynamics and making effective conservation policies. Here, we study the relative importance of biotic interactions versus interspecific host resistance in shaping the pathogen community composition of bumblebees in China. We first conducted a comprehensive survey of 13 pathogens from 22 bumblebee species across China. We then applied joint species distribution modeling to assess the determinants of pathogen community composition and examine the presence and strength of pathogen–pathogen associations. We found that host species explained most of the variations in pathogen occurrences and composition, suggesting that host specificity was the most important variable in predicting pathogen occurrences and community composition in bumblebees. Moreover, we detected both positive and negative associations among pathogens, indicating the role of competition and facilitation among pathogens in determining pathogen community assembly. Our research demonstrates the power of a pluralistic framework integrating field survey of bumblebee pathogens with community ecology frameworks to understand the underlying mechanisms of pathogen community assembly.