Status of Pollinators in North America

Status of Pollinators in North America

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-05-13

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 0309102898

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Techniques for Pollination Biologists

Techniques for Pollination Biologists

Author: Carol Ann Kearns

Publisher:

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 616

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Presents a full range of techniques--the newest and most sophisticated as well as the simple, inexpensive, and traditional ones--compiled from the published literature and from the unpublished notebooks and files of pollination biologists. Examines pitfalls and offers cautionary advice about design and implementation of various types of pollination experiments. An important compilation in a discipline fed by a variety of fields and heretofore lacking a single source "how-to" reference. Paper edition (unseen), $17.50. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Pollinators and Pollination

Pollinators and Pollination

Author: Jeff Ollerton

Publisher: Pelagic Publishing Ltd

Published: 2021-01-18

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1784272299

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Floral Mimicry

Floral Mimicry

Author: Steven D. Johnson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 0198732694

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Thie is the first definitive book on floral mimicry, providing a wider treatise on floral adaptation and plant evolution.


Pollination and Floral Ecology

Pollination and Floral Ecology

Author: Pat Willmer

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-07-25

Total Pages: 790

ISBN-13: 0691128618

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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


Ecology and Evolution of Flowers

Ecology and Evolution of Flowers

Author: Lawrence D. Harder

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2006-11-30

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0198570856

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Floral biology, floral function, sexual systems, diversification.


Multitrophic Level Interactions

Multitrophic Level Interactions

Author: Teja Tscharntke

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2002-03-21

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 9780521791106

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The multitrophic level approach to ecology addresses the complexity of food webs much more realistically than the traditional focus on simple systems and interactions. Only in the last few decades have ecologists become interested in the nature of more complex systems including tritrophic interactions between plants, herbivores and natural enemies. Plants may directly influence the behaviour of their herbivores' natural enemies, ecological interactions between two species are often indirectly mediated by a third species, landscape structure directly affects local tritrophic interactions and below-ground food webs are vital to above-ground organisms. The relative importance of top-down effects (control by predators) and bottom-up effects (control by resources) must also be determined. These interactions are explored in this exciting volume by expert researchers from a variety of ecological fields. This book provides a much-needed synthesis of multitrophic level interactions and serves as a guide for future research for ecologists of all descriptions.


Floral Biology

Floral Biology

Author: David G. Lloyd

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1461311659

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Microorganisms in Soils: Roles in Genesis and Functions

Microorganisms in Soils: Roles in Genesis and Functions

Author: Francois Buscot

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-01-04

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 3540266097

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For this third volume of the series Soil Biology, internationally renowned scientists shed light on the significant roles of microbes in soil. Key topics covered include: bioerosion, humification, mineralization and soil aggregation; Interactions in the mycorrhizosphere; microbes and plant nutrient cycling; Microbes in soil surface or toxic metal polluted soils; Use of marker genes and isotopes in soil microbiology, and many more.