Plastic pollution in agricultural landscapes: an overlooked threat to pollination, biocontrol and food security.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39333509.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-52734-3 and PMC identifier 11437009.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol may be severely affected by emerging nano/micro-plastics (NMP) pollution. Here, we synthesize the little-known effects of NMP on pollinators and biocontrol agents on the organismal, farm and landscape scale. Ingested NMP trigger organismal changes from gene expression, organ damage to behavior modifications. At the farm and landscape level, NMP will likely amplify synergistic effects with other threats such as pathogens, and may alter floral resource distributions in high NMP concentration areas. Understanding exposure pathways of NMP on pollinators and biocontrol agents is critical to evaluate future risks for agricultural ecosystems and food security.