| Title: | Mapping the effects of ozone pollution and mixing on floral odour plumes and their impact on plant-pollinator interactions |
| Author(s): | Langford B; Ryalls JMW; Mullinger NJ; Hayden P; Nemitz E; Pfrang C; Robins A; Touhami D; Bromfield LM; Girling RD; |
| Address: | "UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK. Electronic address: benngf@ceh.ac.uk. School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, RG6 6EU, UK. UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK. EnFlo, Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK. Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, P.O. Box 224, RG6 6AD, Reading, UK; School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK; Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, P.O. Box 243, RG6 6BB, Reading, UK. Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, P.O. Box 224, RG6 6AD, Reading, UK. School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, RG6 6EU, UK; Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350, Australia" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122336 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1873-6424 (Electronic) 0269-7491 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The critical ecological process of animal-mediated pollination is commonly facilitated by odour cues. These odours consist of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), often with short chemical lifetimes, which form the strong concentration gradients necessary for pollinating insects to locate a flower. Atmospheric oxidants, including ozone pollution, may react with and chemically alter these VOCs, impairing the ability of pollinators to locate a flower, and therefore the pollen and nectar on which they feed. However, there is limited mechanistic empirical evidence to explain these processes within an odour plume at temporal and spatial scales relevant to insect navigation and olfaction. We investigated the impact of ozone pollution and turbulent mixing on the fate of four model floral VOCs within odour plumes using a series of controlled experiments in a large wind tunnel. Average rates of chemical degradation of alpha-terpinene, beta-caryophyllene and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one were slightly faster than predicted by literature rate constants, but mostly within uncertainty bounds. Mixing reduced reaction rates by 8-10% in the first 2 m following release. Reaction rates also varied across the plumes, being fastest at plume edges where VOCs and ozone mixed most efficiently and slowest at plume centres. Honeybees were trained to learn a four VOC blend equivalent to the plume released at the wind tunnel source. When subsequently presented with an odour blend representative of that observed 6 m from the source at the centre of the plume, 52% of honeybees recognised the odour, decreasing to 38% at 12 m. When presented with the more degraded blend from the plume edge, recognition decreased to 32% and 10% at 6 and 12 m respectively. Our findings highlight a mechanism by which anthropogenic pollutants can disrupt the VOC cues used in plant-pollinator interactions, which likely impacts on other critical odour-mediated behaviours such as mate attraction" |
| Keywords: | Air pollution Floral odour cues Insect pollinators Ozone Turbulent mixing; |
| Notes: | "PublisherLangford, Ben Ryalls, James M W Mullinger, Neil J Hayden, Paul Nemitz, Eiko Pfrang, Christian Robins, Alan Touhami, Dalila Bromfield, Lisa M Girling, Robbie D eng England 2023/08/19 Environ Pollut. 2023 Aug 16; 336:122336. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122336" |
