Widely cited figures range from 67% to 96% but these have not been based on firm data. We estimated the number and proportion of flowering plants that are pollinated by animals using published and unpublished community-level surveys of plant pollination systems that recorded whether each species present was pollinated by animals or wind.
Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce.
Using the regional estimates of plant species richness from Kier et al. (2005), we calculate that approximately 50.5% of angiosperm diversity is contained within the tropics, 27.7% in the subtropics and 21.8% the temperate regions. The number and proportion of biotically pollinated flowering plants can therefore be calculated as:
During a flower visit, a pollinator may accidentally brush against the flower’s reproductive parts, unknowingly depositing pollen from a different flower. The plant then uses the pollen to produce a fruit or seed.
Mainstreaming. Approximately 80 percent of all flowering plant species are specialized for pollination by animals, mostly insects, and they affect 35 percent of the world's crop production, increasing the output of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide.
Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce.
80 percentOver 80 percent of the world's flowering plants require a pollinator to reproduce.
Beetles are one such pollinator. Of the world's almost 350,000 flowering plants, it is thought that beetles are responsible for pollinating close to 90 percent of them. However, most beetles that visit flowers are not there for the nectar.
80 percentApproximately 80 percent of all flowering plant species are specialized for pollination by animals, mostly insects.
Honey bees alone pollinate 80 percent of all flowering plants, including more than 130 types of fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, bee populations have dropped alarmingly across North America, as have the populations of many other pollinator species.
It is estimated that about one third of all plants or plant products eaten by humans are directly or indirectly dependent on bee pollination.
Most plants require the assistance of pollinators to produce seeds and fruit. About 80% of all flowering plants and over three-quarters of the staple crop plants that feed humankind rely on animal pollinators.
Entomophily or insect pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only of flowering plants, is distributed by insects.
Beetles make up the largest group of pollinating animals because there are so many of them! They are responsible for pollinating 88% of the 240,000 flowering plants around the world! They were some of the first insects to visit flowers and they remain essential pollinators today.
Beetles were among the earliest prehistoric pollinators. They began visiting flowering plants about 150 million years ago, a good 50 million years earlier than bees. Beetles continue to pollinate flowers today. Fossil evidence suggests beetles first pollinated ancient flowers, cycads.
She and her colleagues assessed the contribution of each type of insect and found that flies were the most important pollinators after bees, visiting 72 percent of the 105 crops.
Pollinators visit flowers in their search for food (nectar and pollen). During a flower visit, a pollinator may accidentally brush against the flower’s reproductive parts, unknowingly depositing pollen from a different flower. The plant then uses the pollen to produce a fruit or seed.
These and other animal pollinators face many challenges in the modern world. Habitat loss, disease, parasites, and environmental contaminants have all contributed to the decline of many species of pollinators.
Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. More than 3,500 species of native bees help increase crop yields.
In addition, many plant species are either genetically self-incompatible or, although self-compatible, require animal pollinators to move pollen from the anthers to the stigma in order to self-pollinate. Lastly, a global meta-analysis of studies assessing pollen limitation in animal-pollinated plants suggests that individuals in many plant ...
It is important to realize that the fact that a plant species is pollinated by animals does not imply that all individual plants of that species require animal pollination in order to set seed at all times.
seed production without fusion of gametes, such as apomixis), which , if flower visitors were observed, might be erroneously classified as biotically pollinated.