Ecosystems effects 25 years after Chernobyl: pollinators, fruit set and recruitment

• Title: Ecosystems effects 25 years after Chernobyl: pollinators, fruit set and recruitment

Author: Møller, Anders Pape / Barnier, Florian / Mousseau, Timothy A.

Reference: Oecologia, 170 (4), p.1155-1165, Dec 2012

doi: 10.1007/s00442-012-2374-0

Keywords: Chernobyl, Ecosystem functioning, Fruits, Plant recruitment, Radiation

Abstract: 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. This study provides the first large-scale study of the effects of a suppressed pollinator community on ecosystem functioning.

URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-012-2374-0

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