How air pollution may make it harder for pollinators to find flowers

Certain chemicals break down a primrose’s key fragrance molecules, blunting its scent

Against a night-black background, a hawkmoth hovers over a paper filter cone that is designed to mimic a night-blooming flower. The hawkmoth's long proboscis is reaching into the center of the cone.

A moth visits a fake flower in an experiment designed to see how flower fragrance, when mixed with air pollutants that can build up at night, affects the number of moths visits.

Charles Hedgcock/University of Washington, Seattle

Air pollution may blunt the signature scents of some night-blooming flowers, jeopardizing pollination.