Air pollution, particularly nitrous oxide, affects the ecological balance by making it harder for insects like moths to find flowers they pollinate. This degradation of flower scent leads to a decrease in moth visitation, which is a key indicator of the health of other pollinators in the ecosystem. Simple actions such as avoiding car idling, buying locally, and advocating for better practices from high-polluting industries can help. Supporting technologies that remove nitrous oxide from exhaust is also beneficial for protecting the environment and biodiversity.
Pollution’s impact on pollinators
Transcript
Pollution could be killing our pollinators. So how is the death of moths creating a butterfly effect on our environment? Let’s explore this issue.
When we think of air pollution, we often think about the impact it has on our lungs and our overall health, but there could be broader ecological consequences. A new study published in Science magazine shows us that air pollution, like from cars and power plants, could be making it difficult for insects to actually find the flowers they pollinate. The research specifically focused on hawk moths, a nocturnal moth, and the pale evening primrose, one of the moths’ favorite flowers.
The moths like the flowers so much they can even smell the scent chemicals from over a kilometer away. But this scent is degraded when nitrous oxide, a potent pollutant that’s formed from emissions of cars and coal plants, as well as other industrial sources, is released. In the experiment, flowers treated with nitrous oxide experienced a 70% drop in visitation from the moths. This is really concerning because pollinators depend on flowers, and flowers depend on pollinators in order to maintain the species and reproduce, and ultimately we depend on pollinators for food production and the maintenance of our environment. Even certain flowers not getting pollinated could have a drastic environmental impact up the chain.
The word “pollinator” usually makes us think about bees, but the reality is moths actually play a huge role. You can kind of think about them like the night shift of pollination. They’re also sometimes referred to as an indicator species because they indicate the health of other pollinators in the ecosystem. If moths aren’t doing well, then likely other pollinators are facing similar struggles. With pollinators more and more under threat, it’s really not a surprise that pollution could be playing a role.
So what can we do to reduce the impact of pollution on pollinators? Obviously, it’s impossible to solve the pollution crisis overnight, but we can all do our best to do simple things like not letting our cars idle and trying to buy more locally to reduce transportation emissions. Industries like oil and gas and agriculture have high pollution outputs, so it’s also really important to demand better from these high-polluting companies.
Changes are happening with newer technologies like semi-electricity plants. They’re actually able to scrub nitrous oxide from their exhaust before it’s able to enter the atmosphere, which is good for us and the environment. While there’s still a long way to go to reduce our pollution, change is happening, and something as small as a moth not being able to find its favorite flower may seem insignificant, but it really is a pointer that we need to do more to take care of our environment and protect the biodiversity that ultimately sustains our lives as well.