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As spring spreads across North America, trees and shrubs are releasing flowers. pollen. This fine, powdery substance comes from the male structures of flowering and cone-bearing plants. When it’s carried to the plants’ female structures by wind, water or pollinators, fertilization happens.
Pollen can also trigger allergies because it travels. Some 25 million Americans. Pollen exposure can cause sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes, runny nose and postnasal drip – unwelcome signs of spring for sufferers. This roundup includes articles from our archives that discuss recent findings about pollen season, pollinators protection and how to deal with it.
1. Hey pollinators!
Since pollen grains carry the cells that fertilize plants, it’s critical for them to get where they need to go. Sometimes gravity or wind is enough to get the pollen grains to plants. However, for many plants, a pollinator must carry them. To attract insects, bats and other animals, some plants also offer nectar, or edible pollen. These pollen grains are carried from plant to plant by the foragers. There are many flowers. Use scent to attract pollinators.
Dejen Mengis, USGS
“Similar to the perfumes at a department store counter, flower scents are made up from a large and diverse number of chemicals which evaporate easily and float through the air,” writes Mississippi State University horticulturalist Richard L. Harkess. “To differentiate itself from other flowers, each species’ flowers put out a unique scent to attract specific pollinators. … Once pollinated, the flower stops producing a floral scent and nectar and redirects its energy to the fertilized embryo that will become the seed.”
Continue reading:
Why do flowers smell?
2. Bees at the buffet
It’s well known that many species of insects have In recent years, it has fallen. One of the main points is HoneybeesAnd Other species of beesThey are important for pollinating many crops.
A University of Florida agricultural extension specialist was interviewed in a 2021 study Hamutahl CohenResearchers discovered that bees found sunflowers over large areas of land where they were grown as crops in fields visited by bees. Parasites were picked up at a high rate. Conversely, bees that foraged in hedgerows near crop fields could choose from a variety of flowers to eat and spread further. They also had lower rates of infection.
UCANR, CC BY -ND
“The more bees in sunflower fields, the more parasites,” Cohen observed. “Sunflower blooms were aggregating bees, which in turn was amplifying disease risk.” However, “in the presence of many flower types, bees disperse and spread across resources, reducing each individual bee’s likelihood of encountering an infected individual.”
Read more:
Bees can be kept healthy by planting flowers in the vicinity of farm fields.
3. Warmer weather means more pollen
Climate change is causing the U.S. to experience warmer temperatures. This means that the growing seasons are earlier and later in the year. That’s Bad news for allergy sufferers.
“The higher temperature will extend the growing season, giving plants more time to emit pollenAnd reproduce,” write University of Michigan atmospheric scientists Yingxiao Zhang and Allison L. Steiner. And by increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere, climate change will make it possible for plants to grow larger and generate more pollen.
“Southeastern regions, including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, can expect large grass and weed pollen increases in the future. The Pacific Northwest is likely to see peak pollen season a month earlier because of the early pollen season of alder,” Zhang and Steiner report.
Continue reading:
Pollen season is getting longer and more intense with climate change – here’s what allergy sufferers can expect in the future
4. Providing better forecasts
How can allergy sufferers be sure to know when there is too much pollen? Today the U.S. has only a rudimentary network of 90 pollen observation stations across the country, staffed by volunteers and run only during pollen season, so often there isn’t good information available when people need it.
Fiona LoA University of Washington environmental health scientist, Lo, is currently working with colleagues on a model to predict airborne pollen emissions. “Our forecast can predict for specific pollen types because our model includes information about how each plant type interacts differently with the environment,” Lo reports.
The model has only predicted levels of four types common pollen in areas with observation stations. Ultimately, though, Lo and her collaborators “want to provide a forecast every day during pollen season to give allergy sufferers the information they need to manage their symptoms. Allergies are often undertreated, and knowledge about self-care is limited, so a reliable pollen forecast that is easy to access – for example, via an app on your phone – along with education on allergy management, could really help allergy sufferers.”
Continue reading:
Sunny with a chance of sneezing – I’m building a tool to forecast pollen levels that will help allergy sufferers know when it’s safe to go outside
5. Support pollinators in the garden
Pollen season is also gardening season, since it’s when plants are blooming. West Virginia University mycologist Brian LovettThis guide is for gardeners who want advice Attract beneficial insects into their yardsFor pollination and other purposes.
One step is to replace the grass with native wildflowers. These will provide pollen, nectar, and food for insects like bees, ants, and butterflies. “Just as you may have a favorite local restaurant, insects that live around you have a taste for the flowers that are native to their areas,” Lovett notes.
Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
Insect-friendly measures include replacing white lightbulbs by warm-hued or yellow LED bulbs and putting water in dishes and other containers. Other suggestions can be made by local university extension offices or gardening shops.
“In my view, humans all too often see ourselves as separate from nature, which leads us to relegate biodiversity to designated parks,” Lovett observes. “In fact, however, we are an important part of the natural world, and we need insects just as much as they need us.”
Continue reading:
To help insects, make them welcome in your garden – here’s how
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