Animal Pollinators

Animal Pollinators
Author: Jennifer Boothroyd
Publisher: Lerner Publications ™
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2017-08-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1541509269

Many plants depend on animals to help move pollen around so that the plants can reproduce. Readers will see how hummingbirds, mice, bats, and other animals play a big role in pollination. Simple text and supportive photos and diagrams help readers understand key ideas and details about this important science concept.

Status of Pollinators in North America

Status of Pollinators in North America
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2007-05-13
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309102898

Pollinators-insects, birds, bats, and other animals that carry pollen from the male to the female parts of flowers for plant reproduction-are an essential part of natural and agricultural ecosystems throughout North America. For example, most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops and some crops that provide fiber, drugs, and fuel depend on animals for pollination. This report provides evidence for the decline of some pollinator species in North America, including America's most important managed pollinator, the honey bee, as well as some butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds. For most managed and wild pollinator species, however, population trends have not been assessed because populations have not been monitored over time. In addition, for wild species with demonstrated declines, it is often difficult to determine the causes or consequences of their decline. This report outlines priorities for research and monitoring that are needed to improve information on the status of pollinators and establishes a framework for conservation and restoration of pollinator species and communities.

Insect Pollinators

Insect Pollinators
Author: Jennifer Boothroyd
Publisher: Lerner Publications ™
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2017-08-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1541509307

Many insects drink nectar and collect pollen from flowers, and in the process they help plants reproduce. Readers will investigate how bees, butterflies, ants, and other insects assist in pollination. Simple text and supportive photos and diagrams help readers understand key ideas and details about this important science concept.

Floral Biology

Floral Biology
Author: David G. Lloyd
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461311659

Studies in floral biology are largely concerned with how flowers function to promote pollination and mating. The role of pollination in governing mating patterns in plant populations inextricably links the evolution of pollination and mating systems. Despite the close functional link between pollination and mating, research conducted for most of this century on these two fundamental aspects of plant reproduction has taken quite separate courses. This has resulted in suprisingly little cross-fertilization between the fields of pollination biology on the one hand and plant mating-system studies on the other. The separation of the two areas has largely resulted from the different backgrounds and approaches adopted by workers in these fields. Most pollination studies have been ecological in nature with a strong emphasis on field research and until recently few workers considered how the mechanics of pollen dispersal might influence mating patterns and individual plant fitness. In contrast, work on plant mating patterns has often been conducted in an ecological vacuum largely devoid of information on the environmental and demographic context in which mating occurs. Mating-system research has been dominated by population genetic and theoretical perspectives with surprisingly little consideration given to the proximate ecological factors responsible for causing a particular pattern of mating to occur.

Pollination and Floral Ecology

Pollination and Floral Ecology
Author: Pat Willmer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 790
Release: 2011-07-25
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0691128618

Pollination and Floral Ecology is a very comprehensive reference work to all aspects of pollination biology.

Cognitive Ecology of Pollination

Cognitive Ecology of Pollination
Author: Lars Chittka
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2005-08-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521018401

Important breakthroughs have recently been made in our understanding of the cognitive and sensory abilities of pollinators, such as how pollinators perceive, memorize, and react to floral signals and rewards; how they work flowers, move among inflorescences, and transport pollen. These new findings have obvious implications for the evolution of floral display and diversity, but most existing publications are scattered across a wide range of journals in very different research traditions. This book brings together outstanding scholars from many different fields of pollination biology, integrating the work of neuroethologists and evolutionary ecologists to present a multidisciplinary approach.

The Forgotten Pollinators

The Forgotten Pollinators
Author: Stephen L. Buchmann
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2012-06-22
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1597269085

Consider this: Without interaction between animals and flowering plants, the seeds and fruits that make up nearly eighty percent of the human diet would not exist. In The Forgotten Pollinators, Stephen L. Buchmann, one of the world's leading authorities on bees and pollination, and Gary Paul Nabhan, award-winning writer and renowned crop ecologist, explore the vital but little-appreciated relationship between plants and the animals they depend on for reproduction -- bees, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, bats, and countless other animals, some widely recognized and other almost unknown. Scenes from around the globe -- examining island flora and fauna on the Galapagos, counting bees in the Panamanian rain forest, witnessing an ancient honey-hunting ritual in Malaysia -- bring to life the hidden relationships between plants and animals, and demonstrate the ways in which human society affects and is affected by those relationships. Buchmann and Nabhan combine vignettes from the field with expository discussions of ecology, botany, and crop science to present a lively and fascinating account of the ecological and cultural context of plant-pollinator relationships. More than any other natural process, plant-pollinator relationships offer vivid examples of the connections between endangered species and threatened habitats. The authors explain how human-induced changes in pollinator populations -- caused by overuse of chemical pesticides, unbridled development, and conversion of natural areas into monocultural cropland-can have a ripple effect on disparate species, ultimately leading to a "cascade of linked extinctions."

Pollinators and Pollination

Pollinators and Pollination
Author: Jeff Ollerton
Publisher: Pelagic Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2021-01-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1784272299

A unique and personal insight into the ecology and evolution of pollinators, their relationships with flowers, and their conservation in a rapidly changing world. The pollination of flowers by insects, birds and other animals is a fundamentally important ecological function that supports both the natural world and human society. Without pollinators to facilitate the sexual reproduction of plants, the world would be a biologically poorer place in which to live, there would be an impact on food security, and human health would suffer. Written by one of the world’s leading pollination ecologists, this book provides an introduction to what pollinators are, how their interactions with flowers have evolved, and the fundamental ecology of these relationships. It explores the pollination of wild and agricultural plants in a variety of habitats and contexts, including urban, rural and agricultural environments. The author also provides practical advice on how individuals and organisations can study, and support, pollinators. As well as covering the natural history of pollinators and flowers, the author discusses their cultural importance, and the ways in which pollinator conservation has been portrayed from a political perspective. The book draws on field work experiences in South America, Africa, Australia, the Canary Islands and the UK. For over 30 years the author has spent his career researching how plants and pollinators evolve relationships, how these interactions function ecologically, their importance for society, and how we can conserve them in a rapidly changing world. This book offers a unique and personal insight into the science of pollinators and pollination, aimed at anyone who is interested in understanding these fascinating and crucial ecological interactions.

The Biology of Caves and Other Subterranean Habitats

The Biology of Caves and Other Subterranean Habitats
Author: David C. Culver
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-04-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0192552767

The second edition of this widely cited textbook continues to provide a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave and subterranean biology, describing this fascinating habitat and its biodiversity. It covers a range of biological processes including ecosystem function, evolution and adaptation, community ecology, biogeography, and conservation. The authors draw on a global range of examples and case studies from both caves and non-cave subterranean habitats. One of the barriers to the study of subterranean biology has been the extraordinarily large number of specialized terms used by researchers; the authors explain these terms clearly and minimize the number that they use. This new edition retains the same 10 chapter structure of the original, but the content has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout to reflect the huge increase in publications concerning subterranean biology over the last decade.