Fertilizer and herbicide alter nectar and pollen quality with
consequences for pollinator floral choices
Abstract
Flower-visiting insects in agroecosystems forage on field-edge weeds
often exposed to agrochemicals that may compromise the quality of their
floral resources. We conducted complementary field and greenhouse
experiments to evaluate the: 1) effect of low concentrations of
agrochemical exposure on nectar and pollen quality and 2) relationship
between floral resource quality and insect visitation. We found pollen
amino acid concentrations were negatively affected by herbicide
exposure, and pollen fatty acid concentrations were negatively affected
by fertilizer exposure, while nectar sugar concentrations were
positively affected by both fertilizer and herbicide exposure. These
variations found in the greenhouse helped explain insect visitation in
the field study. The insect visitation rate correlated with floral
resource quality. An interaction between pollen protein and floral
display suggested pollen protein drove insect abundance for larger
display sizes. We show that flower-visiting insects can detect and
respond to changes in floral resource quality mediated by agrochemicals.