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<font size=2>Anders Moller has done innovative research on a variety of
systems. Here's another:<br><br>
Moller, A. P., et al. (2012). "Ecosystems effects 25 years after
Chernobyl: pollinators, fruit set and recruitment." <u>Oecologia</u>
<b>170</b>(4): 1155-1165.<br>
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<dd>Animals are assumed to play a key role in ecosystem functioning
through their effects on seed set, seed consumption, seed dispersal, and
maintenance of plant communities. However, there are no studies
investigating the consequences of animal scarcity on seed set, seed
consumption and seed dispersal at large geographical scales. We exploited
the unprecedented scarcity of pollinating bumblebees and butterflies in
the vicinity of Chernobyl, Ukraine, linked to the effects of radiation on
pollinator abundance, to test for effects of pollinator abundance on the
ecosystem. There were considerably fewer pollinating insects in areas
with high levels of radiation. Fruit trees and bushes (apple Malus
domestica, pear Pyrus communis, rowan Sorbus aucuparia, wild rose Rosa
rugosa, twistingwood Viburnum lantana, and European cranberry bush
Viburnum opulus) that are all pollinated by insects produced fewer fruit
in highly radioactively contaminated areas, partly linked to the local
reduction in abundance of pollinators. This was the case even when
controlling for the fact that fruit trees were generally smaller in more
contaminated areas. Fruit-eating birds like thrushes and warblers that
are known seed dispersers were less numerous in areas with lower fruit
abundance, even after controlling for the effects of radiation, providing
a direct link between radiation, pollinator abundance, fruit abundance
and abundance of frugivores. Given that the Chernobyl disaster happened
25 years ago, one would predict reduced local recruitment of fruit trees
if fruit set has been persistently depressed during that period; indeed,
local recruitment was negatively related to the level of radiation and
positively to the local level of fruit set. The patterns at the level of
trees were replicated at the level of villages across the study site.
This study provides the first large-scale study of the effects of a
suppressed pollinator community on ecosystem functioning.<br><br>
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