Pollinating insects have become less active due to air pollution

Experts observed how nocturnal insects and Oenothera pallida plants interacted. The ecological systems were located in arid North American regions.

The researchers planned to find out how pollutants in the air like ozone and nitrates affect the pollination process. The formation of the latter occurs in the lower layers of the Earth’s atmosphere when nitrogen dioxide, a component of industrial and car exhaust, reacts with ozone. These are aggressive oxidising agents.