Dirty air harms birds and bees

New evidence shows that birds and bees are also affected by the air pollution we humans emit. Birds seem especially vulnerable to ozone and PM_2.5 exposure by potentially decreasing their antioxidant defence, as highlighted by a new PhD thesis (Ziegler et al. 2022). With regards to insect pollinators, such as bees, it has been found that diesel exhaust and ozone may contribute to pollinator declines, through either direct effects on their health or by reducing their foraging capacity. The smell of a flower is important for many pollinators. Each flower species has a special smell comprised of a unique combination of chemicals, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Nitrogen oxides and ozone act and react with VOCs and could thus interfere with this process. Some pollinator insects were more susceptible than others, such as bees and butterflies, probably depending on how important smell is compared to other senses. The foraging behaviours of pollinating insects are likely to be most affected at times when pollution levels are the highest, such as sunny days for ozone and traffic peaks for diesel exhaust. The authors stress an urgent need for further investigation into the potential of air pollutants to disrupt the many insect-mediated ecological processes and ecosystem services upon which humans and nature rely.

Ann-Kathrin Ziegler, Impacts of urbanisation on birds, 2022 https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/impacts-of-urbanisation-on...

Anthropogenic air pollutants reduce insect-mediated pollination services, Environmental Pollution, Volume 297, 15 March 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118847