<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><I> Thanks to Hilda Diaz-Soltero for forwarding this.</I></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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AGRICULTURE: Air pollution impedes pollination (Monday, May 5, <BR>
2008) <BR>
Air pollution hampers pollinating insects' sense of smell, <BR>
preventing them from following flowers to their source and <BR>
undermining the pollinating process, according to a study by <BR>
researchers at the University of Virginia. <BR>
The study is part of a wider effort to determine the causes of <BR>
drops in honeybee and bumblebee populations that have created a <BR>
pollination crisis affecting a variety of crops worldwide. Since <BR>
2006, honeybee colonies in the U.S. have been decimated by an <BR>
unexplained phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder ( <BR>
Greenwire, April 1). <BR>
Scientists were already aware that scent-bearing molecules <BR>
released by flowers can be destroyed by contact with ozone and <BR>
other pollutants, but the study indicates pollutants hamper the <BR>
spread more than previously believed. <BR>
The researchers' mathematical models calculated a flower's scent <BR>
could travel between 3,280 feet and 4,000 in pre-Industrial <BR>
Revolution air conditions. Today, that scent can only be expected <BR>
to travel between 650 feet and 1,000 feet in heavily polluted <BR>
urban areas. <BR>
"That's where we basically have all the problems," said study <BR>
author Jose D. Fuentes. "The impacts of pollution on pollinator <BR>
activity are pronounced during the summer months." <BR>
Most bees have poor eyesight and rely heavily on the scents to <BR>
find the source of the flower, the study wrote (Juliet Eilperin, <BR>
Washington Post, May 5). -- PR </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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Laurie Davies Adams<BR>
Executive Director<BR>
Pollinator Partnership<BR>
425 Washington Street, 5th Floor<BR>
San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>
415 362 1137 (p)<BR>
415 362 3070 (f)<BR>
LDA@pollinator.org<BR>
www.pollinator.org<BR>
www.nappc.org<BR>
<BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><B>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2008. Create or attend an event in your state. Visit www.pollinator.org National Pollinator Week for complete details.</B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><I>Join the Pollinator Partnership working to protect agriculture and ecosystems - visit www.pollinator.org</I></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"><BR>
</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT><BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.<BR> (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002)</HTML>