Pollination (part 2)

There are 2 type of pollination

Abiotic

Abiotic pollination refers to situations where pollination is mediated without the involvement of other organisms. Only 10% of flowering plants are pollinated without animal assistance. The most common form of abiotic pollination, anemophily, is pollination by wind. This form of pollination is predominant in grasses, most conifers, and many deciduous trees. Hydrophily is pollination by water and occurs in aquatic plants which release their pollen directly into the surrounding water. About 80% of all plant pollination is biotic. In gymnosperms, biotic pollination never takes place. These plants always exhibit anemophily that is wind pollination. Of the 20% of abiotically pollinated species, 98% is by wind and 2% by water.

Biotic

More commonly, the process of pollination requires pollinators: organisms that carry or move the pollen grains from the anther to the receptive part of the carpel or pistil. This is biotic pollination. The various flower traits (and combinations thereof) that differentially attract one type of pollinator or another are known as pollination syndromes.

There are roughly 200,000 varieties of animal pollinators in the wild, most of which are insects.Entomophily, pollination by insects, often occurs on plants that have developed colored petals and a strong scent to attract insects such as, bees, wasps and occasionally ants (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), and flies (Diptera). In zoophily, pollination is performed by vertebrates such as birds and bats, particularly, hummingbirds, sun birds, spider hunters, honey eaters, and fruit bats. Plants adapted to using bats or moths as pollinators typically have white petals and a strong scent; while plants that use birds as pollinators tend to develop red petals and rarely develop a scent (few birds have a sense of smell).

Insect pollinators such as honeybees (Apis mellifera), bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), and butterflies (Thymelicus flavus) have been observed to engage in flower constancy, which means they are more likely to transfer pollen to other con specific plants. This can be beneficial for the pollinisers, as flower constancy prevents the loss of pollen during inter specific flights and pollinators from clogging stigmas with pollen of other flower species.