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Potential effects of ozone pollution on crop pollinators and pollination
  • +6
  • Orianne Rollin,
  • Jesus Aguirre-Gutierrez,
  • Izak Yasrebi-de Kom,
  • Michael Garratt,
  • Arjen De Groot,
  • David Kleijn,
  • Simon Potts,
  • Jeroen Scheper,
  • Luísa Carvalheiro
Orianne Rollin
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciencias

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jesus Aguirre-Gutierrez
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
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Izak Yasrebi-de Kom
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
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Michael Garratt
University of Reading
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Arjen De Groot
Wageningen Universiteit en Researchcentrum Alterra
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David Kleijn
Wageningen University
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Simon Potts
University of Reading
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Jeroen Scheper
Alterra
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Luísa Carvalheiro
Universidade de Brasilia
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Abstract

Human activities induce strong environmental changes that affect the quality of air, water and soil and increase the concentrations of polluting reactive compounds in the troposphere, such as ozone and nitrogen oxides. These changes can lead to a loss of biodiversity and alter plant physiology and plant-pollinator interactions, essential for pollination services, with potential consequences for agricultural production. Taking into account possible interactive effects with landscape quality and pesticide input, we investigated how air pollution (ozone and nitrogen oxides) and other sources of nitrogen is related to pollinator visitation rate and their contribution to agricultural production. We showed that ozone modulates the effect of pesticide exposure on crop pollinators, increasing the probability of negative impacts on crop pollination. Our results suggest that air pollution may have unexpected consequences for food safety and highlight the need for more sustainable transport and manufacturing policies to help safeguard biodiversity and related food production