However, they also found that regardless of nitrogen and phosphorus levels, pollinator "rewards" such as sugar content in nectar, the amount of nectar in female flowers, and protein and lipid concentrations in pollen stayed the same.Īnthony Vaudo, a USDA Forest Service research biological scientist who led the research while a postdoctoral scholar in entomology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, said these findings-recently published in Scientific Reports-suggest that plants may prioritize these rewards in all conditions to ensure that they attract pollinators. In a study with cucumber plants, the researchers found that in general, higher amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil resulted in larger plants and floral display, including flower number and size, leading to increased attractiveness to pollinators and increased fruit production.
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