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Pollinator decline is the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide that began being recorded at the end of the 20th century. Multiple lines of evidence exist for the reduction of wild pollinator populations at the regional level, especially within Europe and North America.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. [1] Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example beetles or butterflies; birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves.
Alternation of generations (also known as metagenesis or heterogenesis) [1] is the predominant type of life cycle in plants and algae. In plants both phases are multicellular : the haploid sexual phase – the gametophyte – alternates with a diploid asexual phase – the sporophyte .
Pollinators are vital for functioning ecosystems, but many are endangered. One simple way to help is by hosting native plants.
The ocean plays a key role in the water cycle as it is the source of 86% of global evaporation. [2] The water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which leads to temperature changes. When water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings and cools the environment. When it condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment.
Water can be broken down into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen by metabolic or abiotic processes, and later recombined to become water again. While the water cycle is itself a biogeochemical cycle, flow of water over and beneath the Earth is a key component of the cycling of other biogeochemicals. [8]
Plants fall into pollination syndromes that reflect the type of pollinator being attracted. These are characteristics such as: overall flower size, the depth and width of the corolla, the color (including patterns called nectar guides that are visible only in ultraviolet light), the scent, amount of nectar, composition of nectar, etc. [2] For example, birds visit red flowers with long, narrow ...
Pollination by a specialist can result in high flowering synchrony, as asynchronous flowering can result in erratic attraction of a specialist to a site. [19] Showy floral displays tend to attract pollinators, [20] [21] and synchronous flowering can attract more pollinators to a population. High pollinator visitation to populations with high ...