Rethinking the Connections between Ecosystem Services, Pollinators, Pollution, and Health: Focus on Air Pollution and Its Impacts

Manuela Plutino, Elisa Bianchetto, Alessandra Durazzo, Massimo Lucarini, Luigi Lucini and Ilaria Negri
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Manuela Plutino: CREA-Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Viale Santa Margherita 80, 05025 Arezzo, Italy
Elisa Bianchetto: CREA-Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Via di Lanciola, 12/A, 50125 Florence, Italy
Alessandra Durazzo: CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy
Massimo Lucarini: CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy
Luigi Lucini: Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy
Ilaria Negri: Department of Sustainable Crop Production (DI.PRO.VE.S.), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Ecosystems provide many services that are essential for human activities and for our well-being. Many regulation services are interconnected and are fundamental in mitigating and hindering the negative effects of several phenomena such as pollution. Pollution, in particular airborne particulate matter (PM), represents an important risk to human health. This perspective aims at providing a current framework that relates ecosystem services, regulating services, pollination, and human health, with particular regards to pollution and its impacts. A quantitative literature analysis on the topic has been adopted. The health repercussions of problems related to ecosystem services, with a focus on the effects of atmospheric particulate matter, have been highlighted in the work throughout a case study. In polluted environments, pollinators are severely exposed to airborne PM, which adheres to the insect body hairs and can be ingested through contaminated food resources, i.e., pollen and honey. This poses a serious risk for the health of pollinators with consequences on the pollination service and, ultimately, for human health.

Keywords: ecosystem services; pollinators; pollution; forest ecology; airborne particulate material; health impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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