Season 10 Episode 3: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – More Sugar, Less Protein: Rising CO₂ in Plants and Pollen
More carbon dioxide helps plants grow.
But does more plant growth mean more nutritious food?
In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, we look at what rising atmospheric CO₂ may be doing to plant chemistry. And to the food eaten by people, insects, and bees.
Some plants accumulate more sugars and starch while containing less protein, nitrogen, iron, zinc, and other nutrients. Vegetables can become sweeter while becoming less nutrient-dense. Leaf-eating insects may consume more plant material yet grow more slowly.
And then there is pollen.
A remarkable study of Canada goldenrod found that pollen protein declined sharply as atmospheric CO₂ rose. But newer research complicates the story: buckwheat pollen did not follow the same pattern, and sunflower pollen showed dramatic changes in compounds such as quercetin.
Along the way, we meet Shakespeare's Rosalind, revisit the claim that "CO₂ is plant food," look at C3 and C4 plants, and ask:
Can one desire too much of a good thing?
The answer, as usual in biology, is complicated.
This podcast was
Recorded October 2026 in Calgary.
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