The impact of ozone pollution on the ecosystem services provided by hoverflies

• Applicant: Dr. Laura Duque
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 549890639

Tropospheric ozone pollution poses a potential threat to plants, insects and the interactions between them, namely through changes in plant-insect attraction. Previous studies have shown that the sensitivity of plant-insect interactions to ozone is dependent on the involved taxa, pointing to the importance of uncovering the specific interactions that are the most sensitive to this pollutant. Despite the recent interest in the topic, only a handful of species have been considered so far. Predatory hoverflies have not yet taken central stage in these studies. However, they offer the rare opportunity of studying more than one type of plant-insect interactions as they can either be pollinators or biological pest control agents, depending on their developmental stage. In this project, behavioral and chemical ecology approaches are used to assess whether ozone changes the attraction of predatory hoverflies to plants and whether this compromises the pollination and pest control services they provide. The risk is considered from three perspectives: 1) when the plants are exposed to ozone and 2) when the chemical signals emitted by the plants are exposed to ozone, and 3) when the hoverflies are exposed to ozone.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants