[PCA] Fwd: [Pollinator] Effects of Chernobyl radiation on pollinators

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Thanks to David Inouye (UMd) and the Pollinator Listserve for this post
that I'm forwarding.

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 Anders Moller has done innovative research on a variety of systems.
Here's another:

Moller, A. P., et al. (2012). "Ecosystems effects 25 years after Chernobyl:
pollinators, fruit set and recruitment." *Oecologia* *170*(4): 1155-1165.

Animals are assumed to play a key role in ecosystem functioning through
their effects on seed set, seed consumption, seed dispersal, and
maintenance of plant communities. However, there are no studies
investigating the consequences of animal scarcity on seed set, seed
consumption and seed dispersal at large geographical scales. We exploited
the unprecedented scarcity of pollinating bumblebees and butterflies in the
vicinity of Chernobyl, Ukraine, linked to the effects of radiation on
pollinator abundance, to test for effects of pollinator abundance on the
ecosystem. There were considerably fewer pollinating insects in areas with
high levels of radiation. Fruit trees and bushes (apple Malus domestica,
pear Pyrus communis, rowan Sorbus aucuparia, wild rose Rosa rugosa,
twistingwood Viburnum lantana, and European cranberry bush Viburnum opulus)
that are all pollinated by insects produced fewer fruit in highly
radioactively contaminated areas, partly linked to the local reduction in
abundance of pollinators. This was the case even when controlling for the
fact that fruit trees were generally smaller in more contaminated areas.
Fruit-eating birds like thrushes and warblers that are known seed
dispersers were less numerous in areas with lower fruit abundance, even
after controlling for the effects of radiation, providing a direct link
between radiation, pollinator abundance, fruit abundance and abundance of
frugivores. Given that the Chernobyl disaster happened 25 years ago, one
would predict reduced local recruitment of fruit trees if fruit set has
been persistently depressed during that period; indeed, local recruitment
was negatively related to the level of radiation and positively to the
local level of fruit set. The patterns at the level of trees were
replicated at the level of villages across the study site. This study
provides the first large-scale study of the effects of a suppressed
pollinator community on ecosystem functioning.
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