Effects of heavy metals and metalloids on plant-animal interaction and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems—an overview

Abstract

Heavy metals and metalloids are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment. Anthropogenic activities, including land use change, industrial emissions, mining, chrome plating, and smelting, escalate their distribution and accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems. Priority metals, including lead, chromium, arsenic, nickel, copper, cadmium, and mercury, pose enormous risks to public health, ecological safety, and biodiversity. The adverse effects of heavy metals on plant-animal interactions, pollen viability, species fitness, richness, and abundance are poorly understood. Hence, this review summarises the critical insights from primary investigations on the key sources of heavy metal pollution, distribution pathways, and their adverse effects on plants and pollinators. This study provides insights into how heavy metals compromise nectar quality, pollen viability, plant-pollinator growth, and reproduction. Biotic pollinators are responsible for approximately 90% of the reproduction of flowering plants. Heavy metals adversely affect pollinators that rely on angiosperms for nectar and pollen. Heavy metals interrupt pollinators’ and plants’ growth, reproduction, and survival. Evidence showed that bees near gold mines had their olfactory learning performances and head sizes reduced by 36% and 4% due to heavy metals exposure. Cadmium (Cd) interrupts the redox balance, causes oxidative stress, alters gut microbiota, and reduces the survival rate of Apis cerana cerana. Excess Cd exposure reduced the flight capacity, loss of mitochondria, and damaged muscle fibre of Bombus terrestris, while Zn stress reduced egg production and hatchability of Harmonia axyridis. Furthermore, heavy metals alter flower visitation, foraging behaviour, and pollination efficiency.

Graphical Abstract