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Chapter 15: Problem 6

What rewards do plants give their pollinators?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: Plants provide several rewards to their pollinators, including nectar, pollen, shelter, and mating opportunities. These rewards ensure a mutually beneficial relationship between plants and pollinators, allowing plants to reproduce and supporting the survival of pollinator species.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Plant-Pollinator Relationship

Plants and pollinators have a mutualistic relationship, which means both parties benefit from it. Pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, bats, and birds, aid in the process of pollination, which is vital for plant reproduction. In return, plants provide various rewards to their pollinators.
02

Reward 1: Nectar

Nectar is a sugary liquid produced by flowers that serves as a primary source of food for many pollinators, such as bees and hummingbirds. As a pollinator feeds on the nectar of a plant, it inadvertently picks up pollen from the flower and transfers it to other flowers, aiding in plant reproduction.
03

Reward 2: Pollen

Some pollinators feed on pollen, which is a source of protein. Bees, for example, collect pollen to feed their larvae. As they move between flowers collecting pollen, they transfer it from one flower to another, thus contributing to pollination.
04

Reward 3: Shelter

Many plants provide shelter for their pollinators, giving them a place to live, breed, and feed. For example, some bats roost in plants, such as palm trees or large flower blooms. In turn, these bats help with plant pollination by visiting the flowers for nectar or pollen.
05

Reward 4: Mating Opportunities

Plants may also provide a space for pollinators to find mates. Some flowers produce scents or visual signals that indirectly attract the males of specific pollinator species. In turn, these attracted males may draw in females, providing them with mating opportunities, while also promoting the flower's pollination. In conclusion, plants provide several rewards to their pollinators, including nectar, pollen, shelter, and mating opportunities. This mutually beneficial relationship allows plants to reproduce and ensures the survival of pollinators.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

For the parasite trematode discussed in Section 15.7 infection begins as snails grazing on algae incidentally ingest worm eggs. The eggs hatch into worms that prevent a snail's own reproduction. Instead, the infected snail nourishes the growing larval worms, which eventually develop into a free- swimming stage and leave the snails to seek their second, or intermediate, host-the California killifish. In traveling to the fish's brain, the worm causes the fish to behave differently from other killifish; it moves about jerkily near the water's surface. This behavior attracts predators like herons. The heron, in turn, becomes the host to the adult worm. The adult trematode takes up final residence in the bird's gut, releasing thousands of eggs that are deposited by way of bird droppings back into the salt marsh, completing the parasite's life cycle. How might such a complex life cycle have evolved?

How might a patchy or clumped distribution of hosts affect the spread of parasites? What spatial distribution of hosts (random, uniform, or clumped) would present the greatest difficulty in transmitting parasites from host to host?

If a parasite's life cycle involves multiple hosts, what might control the population dynamics of the parasite? How do birds and mammals avoid parasitic infection through their behavior?

What is mutualism? Look up some examples of relationships that have been identified as mutualisms, and examine them critically. Are they in fact mutualistic?

Distinguish among symbiosis, obligate, and facultative mutualism.
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