AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Flowering plants need to get pollen from one flower to another, either within a plant for self-pollination or between plants of the same species for cross-pollination to occur. However, pollen can’t move on its own, so animals or the wind (and water in rare cases) move the pollen for plants.

Detailed explanation-2: -How does pollen get from one flower to another? Flowers must rely on vectors to move pollen. These vectors can include wind, water, birds, insects, butterflies, bats, and other animals that visit flowers. We call animals or insects that transfer pollen from plant to plant “pollinators”.

Detailed explanation-3: -Pollination occurs when birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, other animals, water, or the wind carries pollen from flower to flower or it is moved within flowers.

Detailed explanation-4: -Pollination by insects is called entomophily and pollination by birds is called ornithophily. Pollination by vertebrates is known as zoophily. Abiotic agents – Wind and water. Wind pollination is known as anemophily and pollination by water is called hydrophily.

Detailed explanation-5: -Pollen grains are hardy, but they can rupture when subjected to high humidity. This happens during rains when a storm’s updraft carries the grains to the cloud base, where humidity is high. The fragments are then shot back toward the surface by falling rain and the storm’s downdraft.