A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has discovered a major cause for a drop in nighttime pollinator activity — and people are largely to blame.
The researchers found that nitrate radicals (NO3) in the air degrade the scent chemicals released by a common wildflower, drastically reducing the scent-based cues that nighttime pollinators rely on to locate the flower. In the atmosphere, NO3 is produced by chemical reactions among other nitrogen oxides, which are themselves released by the combustion of gas and coal from cars, power plants and other sources.
The findings, published Feb. 9 in the journal Science, are the first to show how nighttime pollution creates a chain of chemical reactions that degrades scent cues, leaving flowers undetectable by smell. The researchers also determined that pollution likely has worldwide impacts on pollination.
The team is co-led and Joel Thornton, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences, and Jeff Riffell, a UW professor of biology.
“Our approach could serve as a roadmap for others to investigate how pollutants impact plant-pollinator interactions, and to really get at the underlying mechanisms,” Thornton said. “You need this kind of holistic approach, especially if you want to understand how widespread the breakdown in plant-pollinator interactions is and what the consequences will be.”
Media coverage: New York Times, Earth.com, Popular Science, New Scientist, Cosmos Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, New York Post.
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