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Plants Produce More Nectar in Response to the Sound of Buzzing Bees: Study

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25 May, 2025

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

When plants hear the buzzing of bees collecting nectar, they increase their output of the sugary substance as the bees get closer, a new study by Francesca Barbero, a zoology professor at University of Turin, and a team of researchers from Spain and Australia has found.

The research suggests that plants play more of an active role in the symbiotic relationship they have with bees than previously thought. The plants’ behavior could be a survival tactic that favors giving sustenance to bees over “nectar robbers” who don’t offer them any reproductive benefits, a press release from the Acoustical Society of America said.

“Plant-pollinator coevolution has been studied primarily by assessing the production and perception of visual and olfactory cues, even though there is growing evidence that both insects and plants can sense and produce, or transmit, vibroacoustic signals,” Barbero said in the press release.

Pollinators produce a variety of sounds when they visit flowers — flapping their wings over a flower, hovering, landing and taking off. But these sounds are very small in comparison with other acoustics and vibrations of insect life, which had previously led to researchers overlooking their acoustic signals related to body and wing buzzing.

Barbero and an interdisciplinary team of entomologists, plant physiologists and sound engineers studied the signals to develop efficient and noninvasive methods to monitor pollinator communities and how they influence ecology and plant biology.

Barbero presented the findings on May 21 at the 188th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and 25th International Congress on Acoustics.

The team played recordings of buzzing sounds by a Rhodanthidium sticticum bee — also known as a “snail-shell bee” — near growing snapdragons to monitor the plants’ reactions.

A photo of the recording device, the model snapdragon plant (A. litigiousum), and the approaching bee (R. sticticum). Vibrant Lab

They discovered that the sounds of the bees, who are snapdragon pollinators, caused the flowers to ramp up their volume of nectar and sugar, and even change the gene expression governing nectar production and the transport of sugar.

The response by the snapdragons could be a coevolutionary survival strategy, particularly if the plants are able to increase the pollinators’ loyalty by affecting how much time they spend inside their flowers.

“The ability to discriminate approaching pollinators based on their distinctive vibroacoustic signals could be an adaptive strategy for plants,” Barbero said. “By replying to their proper vibroacoustic signal — for instance, an efficient pollinator’s — plants could improve their reproductive success if their responses drive modifications in pollinator behavior.”

The research team is looking into whether the plants’ responses increased the attraction of all visitors to their flowers — including the nectar robbers — or just suitable pollinators.

“Our hypothesis is that the changes in nectar we observed after treating the plants with the sounds of the best pollinators specifically increase the attraction of this particular species (Rhodanthidium sticticum),” Barbero said, as The Guardian reported. “However, to confirm this, we need to conduct choice tests to assess how different nectar concentrations attract various species.”

Barbero said that if they are able to confirm this response from insects, sounds could be used alongside plants and crops to increase the attraction of their specific pollinators.

The researchers are conducting ongoing analyses to compare snapdragon reponses to nectar robbers and other pollinators.

“The multitude of ways plants can perceive both biotic factors — such as beneficial and harmful insects, other neighboring plants — and abiotic cues, like temperature, drought, and wind in their surroundings, is truly astonishing,” Barbero said in the press release.

The post Plants Produce More Nectar in Response to the Sound of Buzzing Bees: Study appeared first on EcoWatch.

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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