Olfaction in the Anthropocene: NO(3) negatively affects floral scent and nocturnal pollination. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38330103/)

These scientists were worried about something called sensory pollutants that can harm the environment. They wanted to know how these pollutants affect the smells that flowers make. They thought that if the smells of flowers changed, it might make it harder for insects like moths to find the flowers and pollinate them.

To test their idea, the scientists studied a special kind of moth that only comes out at night and likes to visit flowers. They put the moths in a room with different smells. Some of the smells were normal flower smells, and some were smells that had been changed by the pollutants.

The scientists found that when the moths smelled the normal flower smells, they would fly to the flowers and visit them. But when they smelled the changed smells, they didn't go to the flowers at all. This showed that the changed smells made the moths not want to visit the flowers.

The scientists also found out that one of the pollutants, called NO(3), reacts with certain smells in the flowers and makes them less attractive to the moths. This means that the moths can't smell the flowers as well when there are pollutants in the air.

The scientists used computer models to see how these pollutants could affect the insects in cities around the world. They found that in some cities, the insects might have a harder time finding flowers because of the pollutants in the air.

So, these scientists discovered that pollutants can change the smells of flowers, which can make it harder for insects to find them. This is important because insects help plants reproduce by pollinating them. It also means that these pollutants might be a big problem for pollination all around the world.

Chan JK., Parasurama S., Atlas R., Xu R., Jongebloed UA., Alexander B., Langenhan JM., Thornton JA., Riffell JA. Olfaction in the Anthropocene: NO(3) negatively affects floral scent and nocturnal pollination. Science. 2024 Feb 9;383(6683):607-611. doi: 10.1126/science.adi0858. Epub 2024 Feb 8.