Interactions between plants and their pollinators has been discussed in the past very frequently. Since the Darwinian times, the topic flourished. There are two aspects that have an important role in this relationship that have been affected by the history. The first being the floral mechanisms and the ecological relationships between plants and the second are the evolutionary processes that affect the pollination (1). As the interest progressed, the approaches became more specific and detailed which led to a more fine scaled insight into plant-pollinator relationship specialization. Due to specific interactions between the plant and its pollinator a terminology of a ‘plant syndrome’ has been introduced, which gives a possibility to distinguish the way a plant has been pollinated (2). Some even suggest that the latitude and high specificity of interactions lead to specialization of the pollination patterns because every region requires varied behavioural patterns (3) as seen in Figure 1.
Fig. 1. Relationships between latitude and pollinator specialisation for the community survey and asclepiad data sets. a. Community surveys of plant-flower visitor relationships. Mean number of species of flower visitors per plant species has been log transformed. Pearson’s product moment correlation: r=0.33, df=33, p=0.051. b. Pollinators of asclepiads. Spearman rank correlation: r=0.33, n=91, p=0.002. c. ollinators of asclepiads, corrected for sampling effort. Spearman rank correlation: r=0.09,n=59, p=0.51.
Tylianakis et al (2008) suggested that the pollinator interaction networks might be prone to changes due to the anthropogenic influence. The climate change, habitat fragmentation, pesticide and pollution levels have a potential effect...
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5. National Research Council. 2007. Status of pollinators in North America. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
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Bees are known throughout the world as dangerous threats and pests to humanity. Bees when left alone are very important to the growth of all the worlds’ crops and plants; they affect the growth of all the crops plant just as much as butterflies and other pollinators. Humans rely on bees for honey and pollination of plants, but what most agricultural workers don’t know is that they are working on the extinction of the common honey bee by doing simple things in their every day jobs on the farm. With the use of pesticides and other harmful things such as an unnatural diet and cramped living spaces, bees can go extinct and without a large group of pollinators our plants ...
Much of the misunderstandings are in part by imperfect information which is currently resulting in even further destruction of pollinator populations. Supply is shrinking while demand increases as the need for food increases across the globe. These inefficiencies are creating a stressful environment for various agencies starting at the farmer level, agency level, and ultimately on the consumer level.
Stiles F. G. (1975) Ecology, flowering phenology, and hummingbird pollination of some Costa Rican Heliconia species. Ecology 56: 285–301.
The Apis Mellifera, or honey bee, have survived on this planet for fifty million years. This species of bee is responsible for pollinating flowers, grass, trees and crops around the world. Much of the food we eat is dependent on honey bees for pollination. Our ecosystem depends on the survival of the honey bee. Colonies of honeybees have been disappearing at an alarming rate around the world due to parasites, viral and bacterial diseases, and the introduction of pesticides and herbicides. Over the past six years, on average, 30 percent of all the honey bee colonies in the U.S. died off over the winter of 2012(NPR/TED). If this trend continues to spiral downward, honey bees will disappear from the world. We must understand the importance of the Honey bee and change our environmental practices in order to sustain this vital insect.
Every night at the dinner table people do not realize that, “One out of every three mouthfuls of food in the American diet is, in some way, a product of honeybee pollination” (Zissu, Alexandra par 1). Almost one hundred percent of our planets fruit, vegetables, and nuts are pollinated from honeybees. If this is the case, that means the collapse in honeybees predict for the future of the worlds ecosystem. Without honeybees
Calliope hummingbirds are crucial to the ecosystems they reside in, as they are important pollinators of many flowers, especially tubular-shaped flowers [1]. They share a mutualistic relationship with a variety of flowering plants- the hummingbirds receive food from the plants, and in return, they spread the seeds of the plant across the habitat [1]. Also, because of their unique features, birders, nature lovers, and researchers travel to see them, which brings in economic benefits to the areas in which they reside
Flowering plants have two main reproductive parts; the male part is called the stamen and produces pollen, while the female part is called the pistil. For pollination to occur, the pollen must be transferred from the stamen to the pistil. This transfer can occasionally be caused by wind, but it is most often facilitated by animals called pollinators. Pollinators do not intentionally set out to fertilize flowers; rather, they unintentionally spread pollen while roaming from plant to plant in search of food. There are many different species – including birds, butterflies, and bats – that act as pollinators, and many of these species are also suffering declines in population. However, honeybees are the most pr...
Humans have long recognized that flowers are an indication of future fruits. Therefore it was vital for nomadic hunters to remember where in the wild they saw flowers. And further yet each type of flower produced a specific fruit. Thus fruits and flowers had something in common; the preference of one fruit meant the preference of a type of flower. Most often, as in modern times, the most healthy looking flower shows signs that it will produce quality fruit. The beauty of a flower told hunters that a nutritious fruits would ripen after the flowers bloomed. This concept explains how we have evolved toward preferring healthy looking flowers. But how does this explain the security of a plants reproduction? It is necessary to mention that plants not only produce fruits to stop herbivores from eating the plant, but in their own diabolic plan, plants found a new way to spread their seeds through fruits. Herbivores would eat the fruits an...
Think for a moment of a world without bees; a world without our buzzing friend. They might look like they barely do much to help our ecosystem. However, bees are a vital part of our agriculture and this makes it vital that we keep them around. The bee population decline in recent years is troubling for both us and our little friends. As their friends, we must do all we can in order to ensure their survival which in turn will ensure our own.
The next topic for discussion in this paper is ecology. This will include, preferred habitats and interactions with abiotic and biotic elements of the environment.
Active pollinators participate in a specific mode of collecting pollen from within the fig fruit and then transport it out. Passive pollination however occurs when the wasp does not change behavior in any way to collect pollen; instead the fig fruit produces enough pollen to cover the wasp in pollen prior to exiting the fig. In actively pollinated fig species pollen transfer entirely depends on wasp morphology and specialized pollinating behavior. Female wasps scratch out pollen and store it in specialized thoracic pollen packets (Galil & Snitzer-Pasternak, 1970). When wasps enters fig, they transfer pollen grains and oviposit at the same time in ovaries (Galil & Snitzer-Pasternak, 1970). Depending on what kind of pollinators it has, fig species differs in pollen production (Jander, Charlotte & Herre, 2010). Passively pollinated fig species produce numerous, large male flowers that release abundant pollen onto the wasps as they leave the fig to disperse. Therefore, in these fig species, trees invest considerable resources in producing abundant pollen. They do not rely on pollinators to conduct any special behavior (Jander, Charlotte & Herre, 2010). On the other side, in active pollination, the fig does not have to invest as much energy. Therefore they produce a smaller number of male flowers that are also smaller in size (Jander, Charlotte & Herre,
Willmer, P.. Ecology: Pollinator – Plant Synchrony Tested by Climate Change. Current Biology. Volume 22, Issue 4, 21 Feb 2012, Pages R131 – R132.
diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 of an estimated total of
Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America NRC (2007) Status of pollinators in