Plant Attractants and Rewards for Pollinators: Their Significant to Successful Crop Pollination

Abstract

Plant and pollination have a mutualistic relationship where both parties offer and gain benefits for each other. The plant-pollinator interactions resulted in successful crop pollination in which the plant received pollination services by animal pollinator to increase food production that eventually increase crop economic value. Overall, ecosystem is highly dependent on pollinator thus there is a need to review potential valuation method of crop production and analyse the current understanding of the value of pollination service towards the ecosystem as well as the traits plant offer and benefits that pollinator gain from the relationship. The attractant and rewards highly depending on each other. Plant often able to attract pollinators through traits like the shape, size and colours of flower, deception, scents as well as location. In the meantime, plant would provide a reward for pollinators that visited the flower which includes food from pollen and nectar that contains high nutritional value, energetic rewards to reduce energy cost of survival, protection and shelter against predator and not to forget breeding, oviposition and mating sites inside the flower plant. This review emphasizes the ecological relationship of plant and pollinator that resulting in effective crop pollination if the attractant and incentives are significantly reliant on one another. However, there could be flaws, such as modifications to plant or environmental factors, would affect the rewards supplied and resulting in decrease crop output. With this review and current technological advancements, optimistically deeper investigations in the interaction of pollinator and flowering plant can be conducted and best pollinator management approaches can be established to secure sustainable crops production.

Elevated ozone and carbon dioxide affects the composition of volatile organic compounds emitted by Vicia faba (L.) and visitation by European orchard bee (Osmia cornuta)

“…We can more generally draw the conclusion from these results that, in addition to the effects mediated by plant nectar volume and sugar concentration, changes in the relative amounts of VOCs in the different treatments may also explain the high or low visitation rates. It is well established that plants attract and maintain their appeal to pollinators primarily via visual cues and VOCs, which enables pollinators to find appropriate flowers to collect nectar and pollen [ 68 ]. It may be possible that ozone alters color of flowers and leaves via oxidative stress [ 69 ].…”

Importance of pollinator diversity for sunflower seed production

“…Their ability to thrive in diverse habitats, including those altered by human activities, makes them resilient pollinators. In sunflower fields, their contribution might be particularly significant during twilight hours or in regions with prolonged dusk or dawn, given their crepuscular and nocturnal habits (Riffell et al, 2018;Davis et al, 2019;Zariman et al, 2022).…”

DNA methylome analysis reveals novel insights into active hypomethylated regulatory mechanisms of temperature-dependent flower opening in Osmanthus fragrans

“…Flowering, typically divided into initiation, floral bud differentiation, flower opening, and senescence stages, is a pivotal phase in the reproductive cycle of flowering plants, enabling pollination and fertilization by facilitating access to reproductive organs for both pollinators and wind dispersion [ 1 , 2 ]. This intricate process involves a series of physiological and biochemical changes driven by internal and external factors, such as temperature, light, hormones, and genetic components [ 3 – 5 ].…”