Vehicle pollution is associated with elevated insect damage to street trees

Vehicle pollution is taking a serious toll on our urban trees – just ask the hungry hordes of insects feasting on the leaves of oaks near busy highways. This study found that trees situated closer to major roads experienced significantly more damage from these insect herbivores. And in the lab, the insects even showed a clear preference for – and better performance on – leaves from those roadside trees. Looks like the variability in vehicle emissions across cities is really driving some wild differences in how insects are interacting with our beloved street trees. Urban foresters may want to keep this in mind when choosing more resilient species to plant along heavily trafficked roads.