scholarly journals Learning may help pollinators find their host plants in polluted landscapes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brynn Cook ◽  
Alexander Haverkamp ◽  
Bill S. Hansson ◽  
T’ai Roulston ◽  
Manuel Lerdau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Ozone Exposure ◽  
Nicotiana Alata ◽  
Elevated Ozone ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Plant Pollinator ◽  
Ozone Levels

AbstractPollination strongly contributes to food production, and often relies on pollinating insects. However, atmospheric pollution may interfere with pollination by disrupting floral plumes that pollinators use to navigate to flowers.In this study, we examine the impacts of pollution-induced elevated ozone levels on the composition of a floral blend of Nicotiana alata and examine the response of innate and trained Manduca sexta to the ozone-altered blend.Ozone exposure altered the floral blend of N. alata, and disrupted the innate attraction of naïve M. sexta to the altered blend. However, associative learning can offset this disruption in attraction. Moths that were enticed with visual cues to an artificial flower emitting an ozonated blend learned to associate this blend with a nectar reward after just one rewarded experience. More importantly, moths that were rewarded while experiencing the unozonated floral blend of their host subsequently found the ozonated floral blend of the same host attractive, most likely due to experience-based reinforcement of ozone-insensitive cues in the blend.The attraction of moths to both unaltered and ozonated plumes is critical for tolerating polluted landscapes. At the host plant, where moths feed, floral emissions are relatively pure. As floral odors travel away from the host, however, they become degraded by pollution. Therefore, targeting the flower requires recognizing both conditions of the odor. The ability to generalize between the pure and ozone-altered scents may enable pollinators like M. sexta to maintain communication with their flowers and reduce the impact anthropogenic oxidants may have on plant-pollinator systems.

scholarly journals Pollination in the Anthropocene: a Moth Can Learn Ozone-Altered Floral Blends

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 987-996
Author(s):  
Brynn Cook ◽  
Alexander Haverkamp ◽  
Bill S. Hansson ◽  
T’ai Roulston ◽  
Manuel Lerdau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Floral Scent ◽  
Visual Navigation ◽  
Insect Pollination ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Abstract Insect pollination is essential to many unmanaged and agricultural systems and as such is a key element in food production. However, floral scents that pollinating insects rely on to locate host plants may be altered by atmospheric oxidants, such as ozone, potentially making these cues less attractive or unrecognizable to foraging insects and decreasing pollinator efficacy. We demonstrate that levels of tropospheric ozone commonly found in many rural areas are sufficient to disrupt the innate attraction of the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta to the odor of one of its preferred flowers, Nicotiana alata. However, we further find that visual navigation together with associative learning can offset this disruption. Foraging moths that initially find an ozone-altered floral scent unattractive can target an artificial flower using visual cues and associate the ozone-altered floral blend with a nectar reward. The ability to learn ozone-altered floral odors may enable pollinators to maintain communication with their co-evolutionary partners and reduce the negative impacts that anthropogenically elevated oxidants may have on plant-pollinator systems.

Impacts of Elevated Ozone and Ozone protectanton Plant Growth, Nutrients, Biochemical and Yield properties of Turnip (Brassica rapa)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boomiraj Kovilpillai ◽  
Sethupathi Nedumaran ◽  
Sudhakaran Mani ◽  
Jayabalakrishnan Raja Mani ◽  
Sritharan Natarajan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Ozone Exposure ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Growth Physiology ◽  
Elevated Ozone ◽  
Randomized Block Design ◽  
Size Tuber ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Total Potassium

Abstract An experiment was conducted at woodhouse farm, Horticultural Research Station, Ooty, in the period of October 2017 to March 2018, to quantify the impact of elevated ozone and ozone protectants spray on plant growth, nutrients, biochemical and yield properties of turnip crop in a factorial completely randomized block design replicated thrice. The elevated ozone exposure significantly reduces the plant height, tuber size, tuber weight, Chlorophyll ‘a’, Chlorophyll ‘b’, Total chlorophyll, total nitrogen, total potassium, total Manganese, Iron, Zinc, Copper inturnip. Meanwhile, the elevated ozone exposure significantly increased the total phosphorous, catalase and peroxide activity inturnip. However, ozone protectants played a major role to nullify the tropospheric ozoneeffect on growth, physiology, development and yield of turnip and among them panchagavya performed well followed by neem oil and ascorbicacid.

scholarly journals Ambient and Elevated Ozone (O3) impacts on Potato Genotypes (Solanum tuberosum.L) over a high altitude Western Ghats location in Southern India

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
V.S. Suganthy ◽  
C. Udayasoorian
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Ozone Exposure ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Tuber Initiation ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Elevated Ozone ◽  
Variation Characteristics ◽  
Initiation Stage ◽  
The Impact

<div><p><em>Globally, next to CO<sub>2</sub> and Methane, raising levels of <strong>tropospheric ozone (O<sub>3</sub>), acts as a secondary pollutant and green house gas </strong>which is a silent threat as well as one of the biggest challenges for the decrease in agricultural production. The diurnal and seasonal variation characteristics of ambient ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) and its precursor NOx was investigated by their continuous measurements at ISRO-Climate Change Observatory situated in a high altitude Western Ghats location of Ooty. The impact of ambient  O<sub>3</sub> on the growth and yield characteristics of various potato genotypes were assessed by the calculated higher ozone exposure indices <strong>AOT40 and SUM60 </strong>than critical levels by showing<strong> “latent injury“ </strong>in the form of  yield reduction (4.56 - 25.5 %) in potato genotypes. The impact of three elevated O<sub>3 </sub>levels (100, 150 and 200 ppb for 4 hd<sup>-1</sup>) on ten potato genotypes was done by fumigation under controlled open–top chamber during its critical stage namely the tuber initiation stage resulted that Kufri Surya proved to be moderately resistant by recording the highest yield.</em></p></div>

Utilizing Information "Shape" as an Interface Metaphor Based on Genre

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine G. Toms ◽  
D. Grant Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Discourse Communities ◽  
Digital Document ◽  
Interface Metaphor ◽  
The Impact

Documents have conventions which have evolved within discourse communities and which facilitate document use. These conventions are represented in a document by visual cues that define a shape and serve as an interface metaphor in a user's interaction with a digital document. In this paper we report on the results of two studies, one of which examined the impact of . . .

Food, Water and the Consequences of Society Not Valuing the Environment

2019 ◽  
pp. 858-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Allan
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
The Political ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
The Impact

The first purpose of this chapter is to highlight the impact of the food system on environmental and human health. The delivery of secure affordable food is a political imperative. Unfortunately, the food system that delivers it is environmentally blind. Food prices do not effectively reflect the value of food and often seriously mislead on the costs and impacts of food production. For example, actual food production takes place in a failed market—the value of environmental services such as water and the supporting ecosystems are not taken into account. The second purpose is to summarize and expose the political economy of the different ‘market’ modes of the food system. It is shown that there are weak players such as underrewarded and undervalued farmers who support society by producing food and stewarding our unvalued environment. The inadequacies of accounting systems are also critiqued.

scholarly journals Development of the Circular Bioeconomy: Drivers and Indicators

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 413
Author(s):  
Maximilian Kardung ◽  
Kutay Cingiz ◽  
Ortwin Costenoble ◽  
Roel Delahaye ◽  
Wim Heijman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Analysis Framework ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The EU’s 2018 Bioeconomy Strategy Update and the European Green Deal recently confirmed that the bioeconomy is high on the political agenda in Europe. Here, we propose a conceptual analysis framework for quantifying and analyzing the development of the EU bioeconomy. The bioeconomy has several related concepts (e.g., bio-based economy, green economy, and circular economy) and there are clear synergies between these concepts, especially between the bioeconomy and circular economy concepts. Analyzing the driving factors provides important information for monitoring activities. We first derive the scope of the bioeconomy framework in terms of bioeconomy sectors and products to be involved, the needed geographical coverage and resolution, and time period. Furthermore, we outline a set of indicators linked to the objectives of the EU’s bioeconomy strategy. In our framework, measuring developments will, in particular, focus on the bio-based sectors within the bioeconomy as biomass and food production is already monitored. The selected indicators commit to the EU Bioeconomy Strategy objectives and conform with findings from previous studies and stakeholder consultation. Additionally, several new indicators have been suggested and they are related to measuring the impact of changes in supply, demand drivers, resource availability, and policies on sustainability goals.

scholarly journals Assessing the Sensitivity of Main Crop Yields to Climate Change Impacts in China

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
Yuan Xu ◽  
Jieming Chou ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Mingyang Sun ◽  
Weixing Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
Output Elasticity ◽  
The Impact

Quantitatively assessing the spatial divergence of the sensitivity of crop yield to climate change is of great significance for reducing the climate change risk to food production. We use socio-economic and climatic data from 1981 to 2015 to examine how climate variability led to variation in yield, as simulated by an economy–climate model (C-D-C). The sensitivity of crop yield to the impact of climate change refers to the change in yield caused by changing climatic factors under the condition of constant non-climatic factors. An ‘output elasticity of comprehensive climate factor (CCF)’ approach determines the sensitivity, using the yields per hectare for grain, rice, wheat and maize in China’s main grain-producing areas as a case study. The results show that the CCF has a negative trend at a rate of −0.84/(10a) in the North region, while a positive trend of 0.79/(10a) is observed for the South region. Climate change promotes the ensemble increase in yields, and the contribution of agricultural labor force and total mechanical power to yields are greater, indicating that the yield in major grain-producing areas mainly depends on labor resources and the level of mechanization. However, the sensitivities to climate change of different crop yields to climate change present obvious regional differences: the sensitivity to climate change of the yield per hectare for maize in the North region was stronger than that in the South region. Therefore, the increase in the yield per hectare for maize in the North region due to the positive impacts of climate change was greater than that in the South region. In contrast, the sensitivity to climate change of the yield per hectare for rice in the South region was stronger than that in the North region. Furthermore, the sensitivity to climate change of maize per hectare yield was stronger than that of rice and wheat in the North region, and that of rice was the highest of the three crop yields in the South region. Finally, the economy–climate sensitivity zones of different crops were determined by the output elasticity of the CCF to help adapt to climate change and prevent food production risks.

scholarly journals Assessment of Glyphosate Impact on the Agrofood Ecosystem

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 405
Author(s):  
Yaxin Sang ◽  
Juan-Carlos Mejuto ◽  
Jianbo Xiao ◽  
Jesus Simal-Gandara
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Biological Pest Control ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
The Impact

Agro-industries should adopt effective strategies to use agrochemicals such as glyphosate herbicides cautiously in order to protect public health. This entails careful testing and risk assessment of available choices, and also educating farmers and users with mitigation strategies in ecosystem protection and sustainable development. The key to success in this endeavour is using scientific research on biological pest control, organic farming and regulatory control, etc., for new developments in food production and safety, and for environmental protection. Education and research is of paramount importance for food and nutrition security in the shadow of climate change, and their consequences in food production and consumption safety and sustainability. This review, therefore, diagnoses on the use of glyphosate and the associated development of glyphosate-resistant weeds. It also deals with the risk assessment on human health of glyphosate formulations through environment and dietary exposures based on the impact of glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA—(aminomethyl)phosphonic acid—on water and food. All this to setup further conclusions and recommendations on the regulated use of glyphosate and how to mitigate the adverse effects.

scholarly journals Imaging NAD(H) Redox Alterations in Cryopreserved Alveolar Macrophages from Ozone-Exposed Mice and the Impact of Nutrient Starvation during Long Lag Times

Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 767
Author(s):  
He N. Xu ◽  
Joanna Floros ◽  
Lin Z. Li ◽  
Shaili Amatya
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Alveolar Macrophages ◽  
Redox State ◽  
Redox Status ◽  
Nutrient Starvation ◽  
Ozone Exposure ◽  
Reduced Form ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Lag Times ◽  
The Impact

Employing the optical redox imaging technique, we previously identified a significant redox shift of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD and the reduced form NADH) in freshly isolated alveolar macrophages (AM) from ozone-exposed mice. The goal here was twofold: (a) to determine the NAD(H) redox shift in cryopreserved AM isolated from ozone-exposed mice and (b) to investigate whether there is a difference in the redox status between cryopreserved and freshly isolated AM. We found: (i) AM from ozone-exposed mice were in a more oxidized redox state compared to that from filtered air (FA)-exposed mice, consistent with the results obtained from freshly isolated mouse AM; (ii) under FA exposure, there was no significant NAD(H) redox difference between fresh AM that had been placed on ice for 2.5 h and cryopreserved AM; however, under ozone exposure, fresh AM were more oxidized than cryopreserved AM; (iii) via the use of nutrient starvation and replenishment and H2O2-induced oxidative stress of an AM cell line, we showed that this redox difference between cryopreserved and freshly isolated AM is likely the result of the double “hit”, i.e., the ozone-induced oxidative stress plus nutrient starvation that prevented freshly isolated AM from a full recovery after being on ice for a prolonged time period. The cryopreservation technique we developed eliminates/minimizes the effects of oxidative stress and nutrient starvation on cells. This method can be adopted to preserve lung macrophages from animal models or clinical patients for further investigations.

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