EAGER: Do Air Pollutants Modify the Strength and Quality of Floral Scents?

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。由植物释放的挥发性有机化合物组成的化学信号在生态相互作用和大气化学中发挥着重要作用。最近，有人假设这种相互作用可能会受到空气污染的干扰：在受污染的空气中，花香被化学反应破坏，因此比在干净的空气中传播得更远，这可能会改变开花植物的授粉模式。该项目包括实验室和现场实验，以探索哪些气味中介的相互作用可能会受到污染物的影响。花香及其与臭氧、羟基自由基和硝酸根反应产生的产品正在实验室进行研究，以了解它们的化学和香味属性。传粉者对阈值数量的单个化合物和混合物的嗅觉反应也正在通过实验室研究进行量化。在田间，将在宾夕法尼亚州立大学昆虫学农场现场研究紫花苜蓿植物冠层内和上方的嗅觉信号的时空变化，该农场将在2010年生长季节种植紫花苜蓿。将对紫花苜蓿花的挥发性排放进行研究。蜜蜂和切叶蜂将被用于气味-昆虫相互作用的研究。预期的结果将表明环境中母体花香和反应产物的“混合成分”是否存在于刺激传粉者反应所需的临界量。这项探索性研究将提供关键信息，生态学家、农学家和大气科学家可以利用这些信息来开发更广泛的研究，以评估空气污染对开花植物授粉的影响。数据集将用于开发和更新数值模型，以估计花羽离开源头的有效距离。为了加强生态和大气科学的多样性，将至少招募一名少数族裔学生参与研究的各个方面。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Chemical signals consisting of volatile organic compounds emitted by plants play important roles in ecological interactions and atmospheric chemistry. Recently, it was hypothesized that such interactions may be perturbed by air pollution: In polluted air masses, floral scents are destroyed by chemical reactions and therefore travel less far than in clean air, which may alter the pollination patterns of flowering plants. This project involves laboratory and field experiments to explore which scent-mediated interactions are likely to be affected by pollutants. Floral scents and products arising from their reactions with ozone, hydroxyl radical, and nitrate radical are being investigated in the laboratory to learn their chemical and scent attributes. Olfactory responses of pollinators to threshold amounts of individual compounds and mixtures are also being quantified through laboratory studies. In the field, spatio-temporal variations in olfactory signals within and above alfalfa plant canopies will be investigated in situ at the Penn State University Entomology Farm where alfalfa will be grown during the 2010 growing season. Alfalfa flowers will be studied for their volatile emissions. Honey bees and alfalfa leaf cutter bees will be used in the scent-insect interaction studies. The anticipated results will indicate whether the ambient "blend composition" of parent floral scents and reaction products exist in the threshold amounts necessary to stimulate a response by pollinators.This exploratory research will provide crucial information that ecologists, agronomists, and atmospheric scientists can utilize to develop broader studies to assess the impacts of airborne pollution on pollination of flowering plants. Data sets will be used to develop and update numerical models to estimate the effective distances traveled by floral plumes away from sources. With the view to enhance diversity in ecology and atmospheric sciences, at least one minority student will be recruited to participate in all facets of the research.