Research discovers best pollinators

Flowers receive a wide range of visitors, but not all of them are equally effective at depositing pollen.  By measuring visits and pollen deposition to all flower species on a heathland in Dorset the team have captured new data which will allow conservationists to identify the most important plant visitors and plants that are at risk, as well as helping to plan for food security.

 

Previous studies have often focused on the number of visits plant pollinators make to flowers, rather than how effective they are at pollination. However, this approach may not always recognise variance in pollination abilities due to pollen thieves or other visitors that are inefficient at moving pollen and may not benefit the flowers.

 

However the research, published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, investigated pollen deposition onto stigmas of flowers of the five most common plant species found in the Dorset heathland.

 

To read the full article, visit phys.org.