Nature's Matchmakers: How Pollinators and Dispersal Species Make our City Green
The ecosystem is an intricate web of interconnecting relationships between a wide variety of species that call this earth their home. It is a delicate system of checks and balances that helps ensure the sustenance of life on Earth. While some species predate on others and keep populations under control, others like plants replenish the atmosphere with oxygen and synthesize food using the energy of the sun for the benefit of many others. Some creatures are specially adapted to aid plants in reproduction. Two such important roles that many species play in this cosmic dance of nature is that of Pollination and Seed Dispersal. They are responsible for the survival and propagation of several plant species that cover our cityscape.
The sexual reproduction of plants is a complicated affair. They produce flowers containing male sexual organs, female sexual organs, or both. The former, called a stamen, consists of a filament fixed upon which is the anther, a pod-like structure with sacs containing Pollen. Pollen is a microscopic grain that contains the male gamete. The latter consists of the ovaries, containing the female gamete. From the ovary emerges a long tubelike structure called style, upon which rests a stigma. The stigma is a part of the flower specially adapted to receive pollen and is modified in various forms depending on the species. The anthers release pollen into the air while the stigmata await pollen to land on them, which leads to the fertilization of the female gamete, or egg, in the ovaries of the flower. This is where Pollinators come in. Pollinators are creatures that act as agents of pollination, facilitating the transfer of pollen from the anther to stigma. Pollinators include an array of creatures including several insects such as bees, ants, butterflies and moths, birds, bats, and even monkeys. Without them, several plant species would be unable to survive, and we would have little to no fruits and fewer vegetables. Bees are the most well-known pollinators. In fact, approximately one-third of our diet, including vegetables and fruits, is the result of pollination by bees.
Bees have several adaptations that make them excellent pollinators. They seek out flowering plants for nectar as well as the protein-rich pollen to make honey and nourish their young. In this process, they inadvertently carry pollen from one flower to another. Bee bodies are not only covered in fine fuzzy hair that makes them conducive for pollination but also carries an electrostatic charge due to friction and air that can attract pollen grains. They also have specially adapted pollen-carrying structures, signaling that the plant-pollinator relationship is a back-and-forth volley that goes far back in evolutionary history.
One study conducted by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research shows that the majority of pollination in urban centers is conducted by bees. The researchers believe that there is both greater species diversity and numbers of bees in cities due to the availability of suitable habitats, good hive-building opportunities found in exposed soils, dead wood, and wall cavities, and the large variety of flowering plants in parks and gardens ensuring a dependable supply of food. Also, bees cope better with the challenge of the constantly changing environment and highly dynamic life in the city than other groups of insects due to their highly developed orientation and learning abilities. However, scientists still know very little about the effects of urbanisation on these ecosystem services that insects provide.
Bees are often regarded as indicator species that signal the state of the environment and its pollution, through their presence or absence. In fact, Scientists at the Bangalore Life Science Cluster have observed that the Giant Asian honey bee visits fewer flowers in more polluted areas than in less polluted areas. Bangalore, which was once known as the Garden City, has seen a rise in pollution in recent years. It is therefore of critical importance that we curb pollution and that our city is made more suitable to pollinators so that their hard work continues to enrich the environment, provide us with food and honey, and make our city blossom with the beautiful splendor of colourful flowers.
There is yet another step in the reproduction of plants that is aided by other living creatures. Once the egg has been fertilized in the ovary, the flower matures into the fruit while the chambers within the ovary known as ovules develop into seeds. These seeds will germinate within the soil in favourable environmental conditions. However, it is important for the seed to germinate farther away from the parent plant so that they do not compete for resources. Here, another agent that aids in the propagation of plant life takes center stage: Seed dispersers. While many plants have seeds adapted to dispersal by abiotic environmental factors such as wind and water, many depend on biotic agents such as birds and bats. Species that aid in seed dispersal consume the fruit of the plant. The seeds, however, have a tough coating that makes them indigestible and is excreted by the disperser, enabling them to germinate where the excrement lands.
Bats, specifically the Indian Flying Fox, apart from being an important pollinating species, also play a vital role in the dispersal of the seeds of over 300 plant species, especially in urban centers. They additionally aid in pest control by consuming several insects that plague important crop plants. Bats have often been villainized by cultural narratives, as well as in modern times by the perception that they are responsible for the transmission of dangerous viruses. However, Bats are incredibly vital for the urban ecosystem and need to be protected.
While many of us go on with our daily lives remaining oblivious to these vital processes that transpire all around us, as well as of the species that facilitate them, which keep our ecosystem alive, it is important to be aware of the role they play not only for the sake of our environment but for the sake of humans as well. It might be difficult to imagine that so much of the food we consume is grown with the assistance of these creatures, yet it is important for us citizens to remember this and protect these creatures to ensure that the natural environment of our city continues to thrive and produce food that sustains us, as well as flowers that can help reinstate the reputation of Bangalore as the Garden City.
The sexual reproduction of plants is a complicated affair. They produce flowers containing male sexual organs, female sexual organs, or both. The former, called a stamen, consists of a filament fixed upon which is the anther, a pod-like structure with sacs containing Pollen. Pollen is a microscopic grain that contains the male gamete. The latter consists of the ovaries, containing the female gamete. From the ovary emerges a long tubelike structure called style, upon which rests a stigma. The stigma is a part of the flower specially adapted to receive pollen and is modified in various forms depending on the species. The anthers release pollen into the air while the stigmata await pollen to land on them, which leads to the fertilization of the female gamete, or egg, in the ovaries of the flower. This is where Pollinators come in. Pollinators are creatures that act as agents of pollination, facilitating the transfer of pollen from the anther to stigma. Pollinators include an array of creatures including several insects such as bees, ants, butterflies and moths, birds, bats, and even monkeys. Without them, several plant species would be unable to survive, and we would have little to no fruits and fewer vegetables. Bees are the most well-known pollinators. In fact, approximately one-third of our diet, including vegetables and fruits, is the result of pollination by bees.
Bees have several adaptations that make them excellent pollinators. They seek out flowering plants for nectar as well as the protein-rich pollen to make honey and nourish their young. In this process, they inadvertently carry pollen from one flower to another. Bee bodies are not only covered in fine fuzzy hair that makes them conducive for pollination but also carries an electrostatic charge due to friction and air that can attract pollen grains. They also have specially adapted pollen-carrying structures, signaling that the plant-pollinator relationship is a back-and-forth volley that goes far back in evolutionary history.
One study conducted by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research shows that the majority of pollination in urban centers is conducted by bees. The researchers believe that there is both greater species diversity and numbers of bees in cities due to the availability of suitable habitats, good hive-building opportunities found in exposed soils, dead wood, and wall cavities, and the large variety of flowering plants in parks and gardens ensuring a dependable supply of food. Also, bees cope better with the challenge of the constantly changing environment and highly dynamic life in the city than other groups of insects due to their highly developed orientation and learning abilities. However, scientists still know very little about the effects of urbanisation on these ecosystem services that insects provide.
Bees are often regarded as indicator species that signal the state of the environment and its pollution, through their presence or absence. In fact, Scientists at the Bangalore Life Science Cluster have observed that the Giant Asian honey bee visits fewer flowers in more polluted areas than in less polluted areas. Bangalore, which was once known as the Garden City, has seen a rise in pollution in recent years. It is therefore of critical importance that we curb pollution and that our city is made more suitable to pollinators so that their hard work continues to enrich the environment, provide us with food and honey, and make our city blossom with the beautiful splendor of colourful flowers.
There is yet another step in the reproduction of plants that is aided by other living creatures. Once the egg has been fertilized in the ovary, the flower matures into the fruit while the chambers within the ovary known as ovules develop into seeds. These seeds will germinate within the soil in favourable environmental conditions. However, it is important for the seed to germinate farther away from the parent plant so that they do not compete for resources. Here, another agent that aids in the propagation of plant life takes center stage: Seed dispersers. While many plants have seeds adapted to dispersal by abiotic environmental factors such as wind and water, many depend on biotic agents such as birds and bats. Species that aid in seed dispersal consume the fruit of the plant. The seeds, however, have a tough coating that makes them indigestible and is excreted by the disperser, enabling them to germinate where the excrement lands.
Bats, specifically the Indian Flying Fox, apart from being an important pollinating species, also play a vital role in the dispersal of the seeds of over 300 plant species, especially in urban centers. They additionally aid in pest control by consuming several insects that plague important crop plants. Bats have often been villainized by cultural narratives, as well as in modern times by the perception that they are responsible for the transmission of dangerous viruses. However, Bats are incredibly vital for the urban ecosystem and need to be protected.
While many of us go on with our daily lives remaining oblivious to these vital processes that transpire all around us, as well as of the species that facilitate them, which keep our ecosystem alive, it is important to be aware of the role they play not only for the sake of our environment but for the sake of humans as well. It might be difficult to imagine that so much of the food we consume is grown with the assistance of these creatures, yet it is important for us citizens to remember this and protect these creatures to ensure that the natural environment of our city continues to thrive and produce food that sustains us, as well as flowers that can help reinstate the reputation of Bangalore as the Garden City.
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