Pollution and pollinators.
by Chris, 18 September, 2020, 2 comments
Plants and animals provide us with many important ecosystem services. One critical ecosystem service is pollination; this is mainly done by insects - such as bees, bumblebees, moths and hoverflies. Insects are often attracted to flowers by scent, when volatile oils are released that act as chemical signals to ‘tell’ insects about their presence in the environment. This signalling is the result of a relationship between flowers and insects that has evolved over millions of years. However, in relatively recent times, we (as a species) have been responsible for many changes to the Earth and its atmosphere. Many gases and materials have been released into the air which have ‘mixed’ with the wide variety of natural scents and smells that are used for plant and animal communication.
One such pollutant at low levels is ozone. Higher up in the atmosphere, the ozone layer prevents too much damaging UV light from reaching the Earth's surface. However, at ground level, the oxidizing potential of ozone can cause damage to respiratory tissues in animals. Read more...
