Download or read book The Ecological Context of Pollination written by Alison J. Parker and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Pollination and Floral Ecology written by Pat Willmer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-25 with total page 790 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pollination and Floral Ecology is a very comprehensive reference work to all aspects of pollination biology.
Download or read book Status of Pollinators in North America written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-05-13 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Ecology and Evolution of Flowers written by Lawrence D. Harder and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006-11-30 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Floral biology, floral function, sexual systems, diversification.
Download or read book The Forgotten Pollinators written by Stephen L. Buchmann and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-06-22 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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."
Download or read book Pollinators and Pollination written by Jeff Ollerton and published by Pelagic Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2021-01-18 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Floral Mimicry written by Steven D. Johnson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thie is the first definitive book on floral mimicry, providing a wider treatise on floral adaptation and plant evolution.
Download or read book Floral Biology written by David G. Lloyd and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Cognitive Ecology of Pollination written by Lars Chittka and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-08-22 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Pollination and Floral Ecology written by Patricia Willmer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-05 with total page 789 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pollination and Floral Ecology is the most comprehensive single-volume reference to all aspects of pollination biology--and the first fully up-to-date resource of its kind to appear in decades. This beautifully illustrated book describes how flowers use colors, shapes, and scents to advertise themselves; how they offer pollen and nectar as rewards; and how they share complex interactions with beetles, birds, bats, bees, and other creatures. The ecology of these interactions is covered in depth, including the timing and patterning of flowering, competition among flowering plants to attract certain visitors and deter others, and the many ways plants and animals can cheat each other. Pollination and Floral Ecology pays special attention to the prevalence of specialization and generalization in animal-flower interactions, and examines how a lack of distinction between casual visitors and true pollinators can produce misleading conclusions about flower evolution and animal-flower mutualism. This one-of-a-kind reference also gives insights into the vital pollination services that animals provide to crops and native flora, and sets these issues in the context of today's global pollination crisis. Provides the most up-to-date resource on pollination and floral ecology Describes flower advertising features and rewards, foraging and learning by flower-visiting animals, behaviors of generalist and specialist pollinators--and more Examines the ecology and evolution of animal-flower interactions, from the molecular to macroevolutionary scale Features hundreds of color and black-and-white illustrations
Download or read book Tree Pollination Under Global Climate Change written by Fernando Ramírez and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-02-05 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brief reviews the pollination aspects of both wild and domesticated fruit tree species in a global climate change context. It explores cross-pollination mediated by insects, vertebrates and abiotic factors, self-pollination and their global warming implications. The authors identify the link between abiotic factors such as precipitation and severe droughts in the context of tree pollination and climate change. Furthermore, pollination and conservation implications in agriculture as well as wild tree populations are explored. Emphasis has been given to fruit trees growing in tropical, subtropical and temperate environments.
Download or read book Ecology and Evolution of Flowers written by Lawrence D. Harder and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-11-30 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reproductive organs and mating biology of angiosperms exhibit greater variety than those of any other group of organisms. Flowers and inflorescences are also the most diverse structures produced by angiosperms, and floral traits provide some of the most compelling examples of evolution by natural selection. Given that flowering plants include roughly 250,000 species, their reproductive diversity will not be explained easily by continued accumulation of case studies of individual species. Instead a more strategic approach is now required, which seeks to identify general principles concerning the role of ecological function in the evolution of reproductive diversity. The Ecology and Evolution of Flowers uses this approach to expose new insights into the functional basis of floral diversity, and presents the very latest theoretical and empirical research on floral evolution. Floral biology is a dynamic and growing area and this book, written by the leading internationally recognized researchers in this field, reviews current progress in understanding the evolution and function of flowers. Chapters contain both new research findings and synthesis. Major sections in turn examine functional aspects of floral traits and sexual systems, the ecological influences on reproductive adaptation, and the role of floral biology in angiosperm diversification. Overall, this integrated treatment illustrates the role of floral function and evolution in the generation of angiosperm biodiversity. This advanced textbook is suitable for graduate level students taking courses in plant ecology, evolution, systematics, biodiversity and conservation. It will also be of interest and use to a broader audience of plant scientists seeking an authoritative overview of recent advances in floral biology.
Download or read book Bee Pollination in Agricultural Ecosystems written by Rosalind James and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-09-09 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many agricultural crops, bees play a vital role as pollinators, and this book discusses the interplay among bees, agriculture, and the environment. Although honey bees are well recognized as pollinators, managed bumble bees and solitary bees are also critical for the successful pollination of certain crops, while wild bees provide a free service. As bees liberally pass pollen from one plant to the next, they also impact the broader ecosystem, and not always to the benefit of humankind. Bees can enhance the unintentional spread of genes from genetically engineered plants, and may increase the spread of invasive weeds. Conversely, genetically engineered plants can impact pollinators, and invasive weeds can supply new sources of food for these insects. Bees' flower-visiting activities also can be exploited to help spread biological control agents that control crop pests, and they are important for native plant reproduction. Managing bees for pollination is complex and the factors that must be taken into consideration are treated here, including bee natural history, physiology, pathology, and behavior. Furthermore, transporting bees from native ranges to new areas for pollination services can be controversial, and needs to be done only after assuring that it will not disrupt various ecosystems. Even though bees are small, unobtrusive creatures, they play large roles in the ecosystem. The connection between bees and humankind also is symbolic of a broader interconnection between humans and the natural world.
Download or read book Plant pollinator Interactions in an Ecological and Evolutionary Context written by Eric Octavio Campos and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation concerns itself with the role of flower shape in affecting the foraging performance of pollinating animals. The pollinator used in this study is a model organism representing crepuscular hawkmoths in research involving the study of flight neuromuscular physiology and plant-pollinator interactions, Manduca sexta (hereafter Manduca). The broader goal of the work is to develop a new experimental framework for investigating the ecological and evolutionary consequences of plant-pollinator interactions. To that end, I have combined 3D-printing technology and mathematical modelling to construct artificial flowers, which can be manufactured with great precision and with objective, quantitatively describable shapes. First, I present a proof-of-concept study to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting foraging data from a real animal pollinator attempting to feed from 3D-printed artificial flowers. I show that Manduca’s foraging performance is extremely sensitive to variation in floral corolla curvature and nectary diameter. These results validate the experimental approach that I describe, justifying a large investment of time and financial resources into a major iterative improvement of my experimental apparatus. Next, I describe the improved experimental apparatus and use it to construct a performance landscape of Manduca’s innate foraging performance as a function of variation in flower morphology. This landscape suggests that Manduca’s foraging performance is contingent on a context-dependent interaction between corolla curvature and nectary diameter. Finally, I use data from infrared sensors attached to each artificial flower and custom computer vision software (both improvements over the proof-of-concept apparatus) to identify putative proxies of fitness for both the pollinator and the plant (artificial flower). The goal is to examine whether the pollination mutualism between Manduca and the flowers that it visits in nature could represent a scenario of evolutionary conflict or harmony. The results are inconclusive due to opposing conclusions that the various indirect proxies of flower fitness point to. As a result, I make suggestions for improving the experimental apparatus even further by including a physical touch-sensitive sensor into the design of the artificial flowers. Such a sensor would act as a physical analogue for a real flower’s reproductive structures, allowing the apparatus to yield a direct rather than indirect measure of flower fitness. Still, the general framework of using 3D-printed flower whose shapes are mathematically specified shows great promise for opening up new areas of experimental inquiry in the field of plant-pollinator interactions.
Download or read book Pollination Biology written by Dharam P. Abrol and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-10-05 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has a wider approach not strictly focused on crop production compared to other books that are strictly oriented towards bees, but has a generalist approach to pollination biology. It also highlights relationships between introduced and wild pollinators and consequences of such introductions on communities of wild pollinating insects. The chapters on biochemical basis of plant-pollination interaction, pollination energetics, climate change and pollinators and pollinators as bioindicators of ecosystem functioning provide a base for future insights into pollination biology. The role of honeybees and wild bees on crop pollination, value of bee pollination, planned honeybee pollination, non-bee pollinators, safety of pollinators, pollination in cages, pollination for hybrid seed production, the problem of diseases, genetically modified plants and bees, the role of bees in improving food security and livelihoods, capacity building and awareness for pollinators are also discussed.
Download or read book Pollination Biology Vol 1 written by Dharam P. Abrol and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-16 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book covers interplay between pest management strategies and safety of pollinators. Detailed information is provided on pests and pollinators of temperate, subtropical and tropical fruit crops. Most of the fruit crops are highly cross pollinated and depend upon insects or benefit from insect pollination for fruit set. Insect pests on the other hand cause major economic damage on fruit crops in tropics, subtropics and temperate. Evidently, pest management in fruit crops on one hand and providing safety to the pollinators on the other is a challenging task in the context of increasing horticultural productivity without upsetting the ecological balance. This book aims to integrate and develop pest control strategies in a way to minimize their impact on beneficial insect species such as natural enemies and pollinators to enhance fruit production and quality. The book covers interplay between pest management strategies and safety of pollinators. Detailed information is provided on pests and pollinators of temperate, subtropical and tropical fruit crops. Pollinators play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most fruits and vegetables. Most of the fruit crops are highly cross pollinated and depend upon insects or benefit from insect pollination for fruit set. Insect pests on the other hand cause major economic damage on fruit crops in tropics, subtropics and temperate. Evidently, pest management in fruit crops on one hand and providing safety to the pollinators on the other is a challenging task in the context of increasing horticultural productivity without upsetting the ecological balance. This book aims to integrate and develop pest control strategies in a way to minimize their impact on beneficial insect species such as natural enemies and pollinators to enhance fruit production and quality. Most of the fruit crops are highly cross pollinated and depend upon insects or benefit from insect pollination for fruit set. Insect pests on the other hand cause major economic damage on fruit crops in tropics, subtropics and temperate. Evidently, pest management in fruit crops on one hand and providing safety to the pollinators on the other is a challenging task in the context of increasing horticultural productivity without upsetting the ecological balance. This book aims to integrate and develop pest control strategies in a way to minimize their impact on beneficial insect species such as natural enemies and pollinators to enhance fruit production and quality. The book covers interplay between pest management strategies and safety of pollinators.
Download or read book Pollination Biology and Ecology written by Blake Hughes and published by . This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pollination biology or anthecology is the science concerned with the study of pollination and the association between flowers and pollinators. Pollination is an important process in plant reproduction that is essential to the production of fruits and seeds. The process is mediated through an interaction between flowers and pollen vectors. Pollinators (or pollen vectors) are insects, birds or mammals that move pollen from the anther to the stigma of a flower. This allows the process of fertilization to occur. The study of pollination ecology encompasses pollination studies at many levels, such as the effectiveness of specific pollinators of a plant species, properties of interactions occurring within communities of plants and floral visitors, etc. This book unravels the recent studies in the fields of pollination biology and ecology. Also included in it is a detailed explanation of the various interactions between pollinators and plants. This book is a vital tool for all researching or studying pollination ecology as it gives incredible insights into emerging trends and concepts.
