Abstract

ANIMALS ROLE IN POLLINATION: A REVIEW STUDY

*Dr. Anil Khole

ABSTRACT

On Earth pollinators and their habitats provide ecological, financial, health, human and social values. All the pollinators on this Earth enhance the reproduction and genetic diversity of around 80 percent of the plant species. On this Earth more than half of the plant species are self-incompatible and they are completely dependent on biotic pollination. 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 (NAP, 2007). It was observed that birds, bats and insects have their spatial role in the pollination process. Birds are also observed, fed and used as artistic and spiritual inspiration by millions of people around the globe. Even today the economic relevance of birds is not widely appreciated and the economic relevance to human society of birds’ ecological roles is even less understood by the society. Pollinators help pollen move to a flowers’ carpel. Many animals are pollinators. Plants are critical for the continued functioning of ecosystems as they provide food, form habitats and provide other resources for a wide range of species. Researchers showed that pollinators have their vital role in agriculture because most fruits, vegetables, seed crops and other crops that provide fibre, drugs, and fuel are pollinated by animals. Pollination has been studied for centuries by botanists and zoologists alike, perhaps most famously by Charles Darwin (1802-1882), and research in this area is currently expanding at a rate never previously witnessed (Timothy, 2020). This review paper addresses that under what ecological circumstances animal pollination essential for food production directly or indirectly.

Keywords: Pollinators, Plants, Pollen, Decline, Poisoning.