Should conservation biology take into account natural olfactory landscapes?

Abstract

Living organisms and decaying organic matter release a wide variety of organic compounds into the atmosphere, creating olfactory landscapes from which organisms draw the information essential to their survival. Nowadays human activities (especially urban areas, transport, industry and agriculture) also generate many volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. These mask and degrade natural odors and alter the olfaction of living organisms. This results in anthropogenic modifications of the odor landscapes that affect the functioning of the ecosystems. This raises questions about the necessity and possibilities of protecting natural olfactory landscapes. Agroecological techniques in particular have shown that it is possible to manipulate odors, even on a landscape scale. The preservation and restoration of a landscape free of anthropogenic odors could then be considered in order to preserve the integrity of ecologically important odors in contiguous spaces. This is a vast project and we encourage further reflection on how to take better account of odors in the protection of biodiversity.