Ozone degrades floral scent and reduces pollinator attraction to flowers

In this work we analyzed the degradation of floral scent volatiles from Brassica nigra by reaction with ozone along a distance gradient and the consequences for pollinator attraction. - For this purpose we used a reaction system comprising three reaction tubes in which we conducted measurements of f...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Farré Armengol, Gerard, Filella, Iolanda|||0000-0001-6262-5733, Llusia, Joan|||0000-0003-0164-2737, Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:143880
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/143880
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/nph.13620
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Brassica nigra
Bombus terrestris
Monoterpenes
Anisaldehyde
Phenol
P-cymene
Behavioral tests
Descripción
Sumario:In this work we analyzed the degradation of floral scent volatiles from Brassica nigra by reaction with ozone along a distance gradient and the consequences for pollinator attraction. - For this purpose we used a reaction system comprising three reaction tubes in which we conducted measurements of floral volatiles using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) and GC-MS. We also tested the effects of floral scent degradation on the responses of the generalist pollinator Bombus terrestris. - The chemical analyses revealed that supplementing air with ozone led to an increasing reduction in the concentrations of floral volatiles in air with distance from the volatile source. The results revealed different reactivities with ozone for different floral scent constituents, which emphasized that ozone exposure not only degrades floral scents, but also changes the ratios of compounds in a scent blend. Behavioural tests revealed that floral scent was reduced in its attractiveness to pollinators after it had been exposed to 120 ppb O3 over a 4.5 m distance. - The combined results of chemical analyses and behavioural responses of pollinators strongly suggest that high ozone concentrations have significant negative impacts on pollination by reducing the distance over which floral olfactory signals can be detected by pollinators.