Air pollution makes flowers less attractive to pollinating insects – scientists
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Scientists have found that air pollution worsens the aroma of flowers, so they are visited less often by pollinating butterflies.
In particular, it is negatively affected by nitrogen-containing radicals that can be contained in the city air, writes The New York Times.
In a study published in the scientific journal Science, scientists note that due to urban pollution, the distance at which pollinating insects can smell flowers is significantly reduced.
Pollution will have negative consequences for the environment. Firstly, it can affect the yield, and secondly, it can threaten insects that feed on flower nectar. Their numbers are already declining on a global scale.
“We are concerned about how air pollution affects people, but there is an entire life system that is also exposed to the same pollutants. We are just finding out how catastrophic the effects of air pollution are.” – noted Joel Thornton, a chemist from the University of Washington and the lead author of the study.
| Photo: romantic/Depositphotos |
Scientists studied pale evening primrose (a plant with delicate flowers that open at night). Its main pollinators are beetles, which have extremely sensitive antennae that detect odors.
The aroma of primrose is a complex “bouquet” of various chemical compounds. To identify them, scientists fixed plastic bags over the flowers, capturing samples of the scented air. When the team analyzed them in the lab, they found 22 chemical components.
The scientists then recorded the electrical activity of the butterflies’ antennae when they were exposed to these aromatic compounds. They found that brambles are particularly sensitive to a group of compounds called monoterpenes (substances used in the production of essential oils).
Researchers have created their own imitation of the smell of primrose. Then they added ozone and nitrogen-containing radicals, which can be formed when a mixture of gases produced by burning fossil fuels enters the atmosphere.
Ozone, which is formed in the presence of sunlight, is abundant during the day, while nitrogen-containing radicals, which are decomposed by sunlight, dominate at night.
First, the scientists added ozone to the primrose fragrance and observed chemical degradation where the concentration of two key monoterpenes dropped by about 30%. Then they added nitrogen-containing radicals to the mix, which reduced the number of key substances that attracted the butterflies by 84%.
To assess the effect on the two species of beetles, the scientists placed an artificial flower containing an imitation of the primrose aroma at one end of the wind tunnel. Butterflies released from the other end often found their way to the flower. Instead, when she emitted a scent with nitrogen-containing radicals, the butterflies stopped.
Scientists are sure that this problem has already acquired a wide scale and goes beyond the boundaries of the studied plants and insects. Using computer simulations, they calculated that in many cities around the world, pollution has reduced the detection distance of smells by more than 75% compared to the pre-industrial era.
Earlier we told how field violets have evolved over 20 years.
Read also: How to properly care for bouquets? 10 questions for a florist
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