Smell this.
Airborne chemicals found in common fossil fuels are interfering with the pollination process, new research shows, to the point of changing the way a flower smells.
And while that may have a slight impact on people who make a habit of stopping to smell the roses, the effect on insects, which can no longer locate the flowers to perch on, especially at night, is worrying, experts say.
“Pollution caused by human activity is altering the chemical composition of critical olfactory signals, altering it to such an extent that pollinators can no longer recognize or respond to them,” said researcher Jeff Riffell.
Riffell and other scientists at the University of Washington, who published their findings in the journal Science, discovered that nitrate radicals known as NO3 are behind this odor masking phenomenon.
Insects cannot locate flowers by smell due to a chemical substance that covers them. jeremy chan
They come from gas, coal, power plants and other natural and energy sources.
“When you smell a rose, you’re smelling a diverse bouquet made up of different types of chemicals,” Riffell added.
“The same goes for almost any flower. “Each one has its own aroma composed of a specific chemical recipe.”
They experimented with moths, which Riffell says have dog-like super sniffers, to see if the winged things could locate certain flowers using their strong sense of smell.
One of the two moth breeds was 50% less accurate, while the other could not find the source of the flower when tested in a nighttime urban environment.
The experiments found that the moths were unable or barely able to smell certain flowers coated with the chemicals. jeremy chan
“NO3 is really reducing a flower’s ‘range’: how far its scent can travel and attract a pollinator before it decays and is undetectable,” Riffell said.
However, the daytime statistics were not as severe as the research team believes that sunlight can wear down the powers of NO3.
Regardless, there is now concern that pollinators like moths will become unable to fulfill their ecosystem duties.
New research shows that many flowers are covered in a contaminant that masks their scent, confusing insects. Ron Lobo
Riffell noted that about 75% of the more than 240,000 documented flowering plants require insect intervention and that about 70 species of pollinators are endangered or threatened.
“Our approach could serve as a roadmap for others to investigate how pollutants affect plant-pollinator interactions and really get at the underlying mechanisms,” said researcher Joel Thornton.
“This kind of holistic approach is needed, especially if you want to understand how widespread the breakdown of plant-pollinator interactions is and what the consequences will be.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn