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Plastic pollution in agricultural landscapes: an overlooked threat to pollination, biocontrol and food security
Summary
This synthesis examined the largely unstudied effects of nano/microplastic pollution on pollinators and biocontrol agents—organisms that underpin agricultural productivity—finding evidence of gene expression changes, organ damage, and behavioral modifications at the organismal level. At landscape scales, MPs may amplify synergistic effects with pathogens and alter floral resource distributions, with implications for food security that are only beginning to be quantified.
Ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol may be severely affected by emerging nano/micro-plastics (NMP) pollution. Here, we synthesize the little-known effects of NMP on pollinators and biocontrol agents on the organismal, farm and landscape scale. Ingested NMP trigger organismal changes from gene expression, organ damage to behavior modifications. At the farm and landscape level, NMP will likely amplify synergistic effects with other threats such as pathogens, and may alter floral resource distributions in high NMP concentration areas. Understanding exposure pathways of NMP on pollinators and biocontrol agents is critical to evaluate future risks for agricultural ecosystems and food security.