Fertilizer and herbicide alter nectar and pollen quality with consequences for pollinator floral choices.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pollinating insects provide economically and ecologically valuable services, but are threatened by a variety of anthropogenic changes. The availability and quality of floral resources may be affected by anthropogenic land use. For example, flower-visiting insects in agroecosystems rely on weeds on field edges for foraging resources, but these weeds are often exposed to agrochemicals that may compromise the quality of their floral resources.

Methods

We conducted complementary field and greenhouse experiments to evaluate the: (1) effect of low concentrations of agrochemical exposure on nectar and pollen quality and (2) relationship between floral resource quality and insect visitation. We applied the same agrochemcial treatments (low concentrations of fertilizer, lo

SUBMITTER: Russo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10269573 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature