My heart beats faster in response to the higher altitude as I climb up the side of the mountain in search of pollinators feeding from the first flowers of springtime. I am conducting research in the Himalayan mountain range in the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim (pronounced Sick-im), which is bordered by China/Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. I reached the Himalayas in early May with a few labmates and my lab advisor so that we could explore how pollinators in this region respond to diverse flower smells at different elevations in the mountains.
The same species of a particular flower releases different odor chemicals at different altitudes. For example, a strawberry flower gives off different smells at 3,000 meters above sea level, 3,500 meters and even 4,000 meters. This is because there are fewer resources, such as oxygen, available to the strawberry plant at higher altitudes. Thus, the plant makes use of whatever nutrients are available at its own elevation to produce a unique smell and attract pollinators.
However, there is a big problem: climate change. The mountains are warming up such that pollinators that normally live at lower elevations might start relocating to higher elevations, seeking out temperatures that are not too warm, since higher elevations are usually cooler than lower elevations.
