University of Pittsburgh, Department of Biological Sciences, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Environ Pollut. 2013 Jun;177:78-81. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.02.017. Epub 2013 Mar 6.
Metals in soil are known to negatively affect the health of many groups of organisms, but it is unclear whether they can affect plant-pollinator interactions, and whether pollinators that visit plants growing on contaminated soils are at risk of ingesting potentially toxic resources. We address whether the presence of metals in nectar alters foraging behavior by bumblebees by manipulating nectar with one of two common soil contaminants (Al or Ni) in flowers of Impatiens capensis (Balsaminaceae). While the presence of Al in nectar did not influence foraging patterns by bumblebees, flowers containing Ni nectar solutions were visited for shorter time periods relative to controls, and discouraged bees from visiting nearby Ni-contaminated flowers. However, because bumblebees still visited these flowers, they likely ingested a potentially toxic resource. Our findings suggest that soil metals could cascade to negatively affect pollinators in metal contaminated environments.
土壤中的金属已知会对许多生物群体的健康产生负面影响，但目前尚不清楚它们是否会影响植物-传粉者的相互作用，以及访问生长在受污染土壤上的植物的传粉者是否有摄入潜在有毒资源的风险。我们通过在 Impatiens capensis（凤仙花科）的花朵中用两种常见土壤污染物（Al 或 Ni）之一来操纵花蜜，来确定金属在花蜜中是否会改变熊蜂的觅食行为。虽然花蜜中 Al 的存在并没有影响熊蜂的觅食模式，但含有 Ni 花蜜溶液的花朵相对于对照而言，被访问的时间更短，并且阻止蜜蜂访问附近受 Ni 污染的花朵。然而，由于熊蜂仍然访问这些花朵，它们可能摄入了潜在的有毒资源。我们的研究结果表明，土壤金属可能会级联对受金属污染环境中的传粉者产生负面影响。
